Maenette K.p. Ah Nee-benham EdD

Dr. Ah Nee-Benham is Dean at the Hawaiinuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, University of Hawaii at Manoa. She began her career in education in the 1970s, preK-12 teaching and school administration. She was a Professor of Educational Leadership at Michigan State University (1993 – 2008). Dr. Ah Nee-Benham is the past editor (2002-2006) of the American Educational Research Association’s leading educational journal, The American Educational Research Journal: Section on Social and Institutional Analysis. As a scholar, mentor, and teacher, her inquiry centers on the nature of engaged educational leadership; the wisdom of knowing and praxis of social justice envisioned and enacted by educational leaders; and the effects of educational policy on indigenous people. She has been an invited speaker and presenter at international conferences in Europe, South East Asia, and the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education (Hawaii, Canada, and New Zealand). In the United States, she is asked to speak on educational issues at a variety of conferences from a focus on Biomedical Research to a focus on Issues of Diversity. Dr. Ah Nee-Benham is the author of numerous articles and books, including: Culture and Educational Policy in Hawaii: The Silencing of Native Voices (Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers), Let My Spirit Soar! The Narratives of Diverse Women in School Leadership (Corwin Press), Indigenous Educational Models for Contemporary Practice: In Our Mother’s Voice Volumes I and II (Lawrence Erlbaum Publisher), and Case Studies for School Administrators: Managing Change in Education (Scarecrow Publishers). She has worked extensively with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation on youth and education initiatives, and is currently leading their Engaging Communities in Education initiative.