Finding Her ‘True North’
by Erin Teruya ’93 Kinney
Hawai‘i and Iceland might seem like opposite ends of the earth, but to Shanna-Lei Dacanay ’05, they represent two island homes – her native hometown and her adopted North Atlantic heartland, where she has lived since 2015. Today, Dacanay is a pioneer in her field of sustainable development, serving as Iceland’s only BREEAM-accredited professional – a green building certification similar to LEED in the United States. Her breakthrough project involves overseeing the sustainable expansion of Keflavík International Airport, a 25-year master-planned effort.
Her chosen path has rarely been the easy one. After graduating from Punahou, when many classmates were going to the West Coast, Dacanay headed to Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) to study engineering and play Division III basketball. She struggled emotionally during her first semester, and was so homesick for Hawai‘i that her teammates questioned whether she would return after the holidays.
She did return, propped up by her parents, teammates and a former Punahou coach, and eventually thrived. She was named University Athletic Association (UAA) Rookie of the Year and led her team to the NCAA Division III Final Four as a senior. “These experiences have been a source of strength for me to look back on and say, ‘I can do this,’” said Dacanay.
After WashU, Dacanay returned to Hawai‘i to work for a general contractor as a construction engineer and later joined an environmental startup. When the company folded, she found herself at a crossroads, spending stints as a coach and a high school physics and chemistry teacher. Still passionate about renewable energy, she enrolled in a three-week summer program in Iceland. What began as a brief academic exploration extended into a decade-long journey, including a master’s degree in sustainable energy engineering and even playing time in Iceland’s professional women’s basketball league.
Despite her degrees, the transition from expat to local required a grueling level of commitment. “I was trying to get a job in the professional field, but the key was that I was not from Iceland and I didn’t speak the language,” she said. Dacanay dug in and devoted two years to intensive, full-time study to become fluent in Icelandic, one of the world’s most difficult languages. “They all know English very well, but to immerse yourself, you’re more respected. I’m a person from the U.S. who took the time to learn the language,” explained Dacanay. “Everything I’m doing in life is in Icelandic – emails, meetings, doctor’s appointments, talking with the bank. I’m thinking in Icelandic.”
Even with fluency, it took years of perseverance to find her footing in her field. “I worked in a restaurant, as a PhD student researcher, weekends at an Icelandic nature museum and at a preschool – just doing what I could to continue being in Iceland with the goal of getting a job in their engineering field,” she recalled. “There were times when I was very discouraged and thinking maybe I should just give up and move home.”
Dacanay engineered her own success through patience and perseverance, and eventually landed a job in her field in 2022. Keflavik International Airport’s 25-year master plan – the career-defining, dream job she could have never imagined – dovetails with her personal vision of living and thriving in Iceland.
While Hawai‘i will always be home, Iceland – with its empty surf breaks and midnight sun in the summer and Northern Lights in the winter – brings her a unique peace. “I have found my true north there,” she said. “The Icelandic people often use the phrase ‘Þetta reddast’ which means, ‘it will all work out.’”