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Punahou’s Sustainability Fellowship Program Graduates Inaugural Cohort, Welcomes New Recruits

Related Article: A Summer of Impact: Punahou’s Inaugural Sustainability Fellows Leave Their Mark Across Hawai‘i

Punahou’s inaugural Sustainability Fellows cohort graduated after 15-months of in-depth learning, building connections and making a difference in the community. Pictured above, Cohort I Fellows alongside Punahou’s Director of Sustainability Debbie Millikan and Internship Coordinator Jean Kim.

I’ve been truly inspired by the growth I’ve seen in our first cohort, last year, they were full of big ideas but now, a year later, their thinking is more focused and mature, and they have the language to articulate what’s truly possible within the complexity of climate action.”

– Debbie Millikan, Director of Sustainability

By Shannon Wainecki

This past summer Punahou junior Tati Chen ’27 helped draft plans to renovate Castle Hall, the former girls’ dormitory in the center of the Punahou campus. As an intern with the architectural firm WRNS Studio, Chen took on the task of re-imagining the 1913 building with an emphasis on sustainability. She devised ways to make its historic hallways more accessible to modern students. “Think of it as recycling or upcycling a building,” says Chen, who ran her ideas for flexible furniture and open spaces past the WRNS Studio professionals. “It was fascinating to hear their observations and the things they noticed,” she says. “To actually interact with people in the career I hope to have in the future was really rewarding.” 

Whether Chen’s designs make the final cut remains to be seen, but the aspiring young architect got invaluable hands-on experience. She received the internship opportunity through Punahou’s new Sustainability Fellowship. This pioneering program is having a truly transformative impact on its participants and, by extension, their community – as the fellows brought fresh energy and ideas to companies, organizations and government agencies throughout Hawai‘i. 

Waipahu High School senior Chara Daily researched the logistics of implementing geothermal energy in Hawai‘i as an intern at the Hawai‘i State Energy Office. She conducted an analysis and presentation discussing obstacles and why geothermal hasn’t been more explored in the Islands. In addition to learning specifics of heat permeability and environmental regulations, Daily developed personal skills that will surely serve her throughout her life. “I had to be really self-directed,” she says. “It taught me the importance of time management and not only having goals but also having the initiative to take action and making steps to those goals so they’re not just dreams.”

Punahou’s Director of Sustainability Debbie Millikan couldn’t be more pleased. She launched the Sustainability Fellowship initiative in the summer of 2024. “I’ve been truly inspired by the growth I’ve seen in our first cohort,” says Millikan. “Last year, they were full of big ideas but now, a year later, their thinking is more focused and mature, and they have the language to articulate what’s truly possible within the complexity of climate action. This shift from emergent ambition to grounded, practical vision has been powerful to see.”

The fellowship’s first cohort of 20 students is preparing to pass the baton to the next group. Millikan designed the program so that each year’s fellows overlap with the next. Students from high schools across O‘ahu are encouraged to apply to the 15-month immersion into sustainability. 

Together, the fellows tackle some of society’s toughest problems and learn from experts in the fields of energy, finance, transportation and more. The fellowship includes huaka‘i (field trips) to local businesses and institutions and culminates in a four-week internship. As interns, the students put what they’ve learned into practice, worked with mentors, and made professional connections in sustainability fields that will serve them well into their future direction.

New Recruits

Punahou junior Cody Kajioka ’27 joined the fellowship’s second cohort in June 2025. The experience so far has been “life changing,” he says. “It really opened my eyes. Sustainability is not just one thing. It revolves around caring for the earth and preserving the land, but there are so many ways in which we can do that.” He was excited to listen to the talk given by Elizabeth Yee ’94, Punahou Trustee and executive vice president of programs at the Rockefeller Foundation. He can see himself following a career path like Yee’s – working to finance sustainable initiatives at a global scale. After all, he says, “everyone has amazing ideas, but not everybody has the resources to actually implement these solutions.”

Punahou’s Sustainability Fellows hosted the School’s inaugural Hawai‘i Youth Climate Festival in September. The event included hands-on workshops, a farmers’ market and a special screening of Laurel Tamayo’s ’17 film “Healing Lahaina” about the tragic fires in Maui.

For her part, Lakeisha Jailah Quitog is also looking to the future. The Waipahu High School sophomore has been an active member of the Future Farmers of America since the seventh grade. She saw the Sustainability Fellowship as a natural progression of her passion for food systems and jumped on the opportunity. “The more I got into agriculture,” says Quitog, “the more I realized how important it is that we take care of the world. The more I got into sustainability, the more I want to fight for it. I’m definitely going to pursue something sustainability-wise in my future career.” Coming from an immigrant background, she’s particularly interested in agricultural projects that promote equity.

Quitog’s favorite excursion thus far was a tour of Mililani Solar, where she learned about agrivoltaics. “Solar panels give the plants shade, which helps them grow better,” she says. “It’s good for dry climates like where I’m from on the west side. They’re able to grow big strawberries on the West Side. That was crazy to me! It was also really cool to see that mixed-use at play, because we’re on an island with limited space.”

The Fellowship not only brings together students from various schools and connects them with community leaders, it also offers college teaching assistants the opportunity to learn alongside the students.

As much as the fellows value the experts they meet, they appreciate time spent together, sharing like-minded hopes and concerns for the future. “I’m really grateful to be in a room where I can just bounce my ideas,” says Daily. “We’re all working towards this same vision. It’s really inspiring and uplifting.” Kajioka agrees. “I think the best thing about sustainability is that it’s a great opportunity for people to come together, people with different backgrounds, different opinions, and different values to come together and work towards a common goal.”

One of the program’s most anticipated excursions was a three-day field trip to Hawai‘i Island. At the start of this past summer’s session, the first cohort traveled together to Kona. They visited the Kona Kampachi aquaculture operation and Symbrosia, a Hawai‘i-based start-up that uses seaweed feed to reduce the methane gas produced by livestock. They stayed at Starseed Ranch where they took part in leadership exercises and went hiking. These recreational activities help ground the fellows’ deep dives into sustainability issues, which can often feel overwhelming.

Chen reflects on a particularly meaningful night spent staring at the star-studded sky with an astronomer. “When we talk about sustainability or climate change, I find it’s kind of hard to not feel like you’re running out of time,” says Chen. She relished the opportunity to gaze up into distant galaxies and literally see the bigger picture. “We are just one little planet in the entire universe. Even if we think our actions don’t really matter, this is still our home. We can’t touch the rest of space but we can impact what’s right here in front of us.”