Camp Director

With over 25 years of experience in schools as a teacher, coach, academic dean, assistant head of school, and college counselor, David brings a wealth of knowledge to Nalukai Academy.  Since beginning as a teacher and college counselor at the Parker School in Waimea, David has helped thousands of students successfully navigate high school and the college application process. David is a graduate of Punahou School, the University of Southern California, and Columbia University. Before returning to Hawai'i, he worked as the director of college counseling at The Winsor School in Boston, the director of college counseling and the academic dean at Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and as college counselor and English teacher at the Menlo School in Northern California. 

Facilitator

May Samali is a professionally certified leadership coach, facilitator, venture partner and founder. She is passionate about investing in people and ideas that can transform the world. Drawing on more than a decade of international experience as a corporate lawyer, venture capital investor, technology entrepreneur, and CEO, May helps individuals and teams identify their purpose and unleash their power and potential. May was formerly a founding investor at the Urban Innovation Fund, a venture capital firm investing in entrepreneurs shaping the future of cities. She holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as well as Law and Economics degrees from Sydney University. She is also an Australian John Monash Scholar and a Gleitsman Leadership Fellow at Harvard's Center for Public Leadership.

Facilitator

Carlo Liquido, born and raised in Hawaii, is a designer and data enthusiast passionate about leveraging technology for social good. As lead designer at healthcare startup Zenysis, he helped governments tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. At Shopify, he developed self-serve tools to equip new entrepreneurs with the knowledge and insights to scale their ventures. Currently, Carlo leads Lady Bandit Studios, a local product studio dedicated to shaping a more equitable future in Hawaii. His Circular Design Internship program provides career-building opportunities for aspiring Hawaii-connected designers. Carlo earned his Economics degree from Brown University and holds a Masters in Information from UC Berkeley, where he served as an adjunct professor teaching full-stack development. At Nalukai, Carlo creates curriculum and facilitates participatory design methods.

Facilitator

Allen Murabayashi was born and raised in Honolulu, and attended Punahou School. He matriculated to Yale University where he graduated with a degree in music much to his parents' chagrin. He was a founding employee of hotjobs.com, which he helped grow from a 4-person start-up to a publicly traded company with 675 employees in 4 countries. He subsequently co-founded PhotoShelter, an online visual asset management system. He served as Board Co-chair for Save the Music Foundation, a national organization that supports music education in the public school system, helping to double its impact in 3 years. He currently splits his time between New York and Honolulu, and loves photography, Stevie Wonder, and YouTube videos about sustainable energy. Allen first came to Nalukai in 2018 as a guest speaker and has since become a core member of the facilitation team. 

Facilitator

Auston is a technologist and entrepreneur with a decade of software engineering, project management and team building experience at Silicon Valley firms such as Apple and Twitch Interactive. As Vice President of Engineering at FinTech startup Xpert Financial, he led the effort to deploy the first fully automated, electronic trading system approved by the SEC for the exchange of private company securities. Auston delivered major updates to Twitch’s iOS and Android clients, growing mobile viewership and propelling the company toward its $970 million acquisition by Amazon. As a mentor, it is Auston’s goal to equip young people with the analytical skills, technical ability, and audacity to meet head-on the unprecedented challenges of the 21st century.

Facilitator

At Nalukai, Aaron creates and implements curriculum, hustles to find mentors, and teaches digital storytelling. Outside of Nalukai he is focused on creating student-centered systems to authentically tell the story of learning communities. At Hawai'i Preparatory Academy (HPA) he teaches Digital Journalism and Social Entrepreneurship courses that are centered around Product-Based Learning, the Lean Startup methodology, project management, and building digital brands. The class is supported by mentors across industries working directly with students on their products. Aaron's professional background is in international business, digital storytelling, operations/management, UX/UI, and content creation.