Gerry Ebalaroza-Tunnell
The Evolution of Aloha
What does a thriving society look like? As a culture, we seem so focused on the trials beset before us that the question thriving seems to be swept away in the rush of it all. In this talk, we will discuss a prescription for cultural healing and a path towards building a thriving society. We will reach back to the origins of a commonly known and widely enjoyed word that greets everyday travelers to an island paradise: Aloha. This word is well documented and understood to mean hello and goodbye in the indigenous Hawaiian language. Speaker, Gerry Ebalaroza-Tunnell, flushes out a far deeper meaning of Aloha and demonstrate how an ancient indigenous idea of community can provide a way forward for our future
Gerry Ebalaroza-Tunnell is the Director of Equity for the Mukilteo School District and Principal Consultant for Co3 Consulting. She has many years of experience leading and managing initiatives with a focus on equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging. She is committed to nurturing a diverse population by identifying needs and implementing solution systems that lead to a deeper understanding of cultural humility, competence, and the impact on human functioning and social relations between diverse groups.
Gerry is currently working on her doctoral dissertation within the department of Transformative Studies and Consciousness from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. She identifies as a Pacific indigenous scholar, born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii.
A certified trainer of the Institute of HeartMath’s Resilience Advantage Program, a graduate from Antioch University’s Masters of Whole Systems Design and a Social Science major from Washington State University, Gerry understands the importance of co-creating change and the social sciences of learning together. She believes that through systemic thinking and the daily practice of resilience, we can move towards cultivating an environment of cohesiveness and synchronicity.
To add to her list of credentials, Gerry holds Graduate Certificates in Systems Thinking and Design, Integrated Skills for Sustainable Change, and Permaculture Design.