With more than three decades’ experience working in academia, Dr. Debra Nakama strives to break down the barriers that often hinder students from achieving the quality university education they deserve. Her work both within the university system and directly with parents and their children has helped thousands of students go on to enjoy successful, fulfilling post-college careers. Dr. Nakama prides herself on being a life-long learner and hard-working dynamo who gets things done by applying leadership knowledge and practices honed over her many years in academia.
Although the nature of Dr. Nakama’s work is varied and wide-ranging — from grant writing and programs for leadership development to one-on-one assistance in developing a student’s career path — it all shares a common goal: helping to ensure student success. And while her focus is at the college level, she recognizes that education requires a strong foundation and so has also endeavored to affect systemic changes within the K-12 years.
Dr. Nakama is inventive in bringing into line the missions of both the educational institution in need of funding and the endowing organization, even when those missions cross educational sectors. One of her greatest gifts is her keen intuition of contextual surroundings, which allows her to execute tasks across different institutions — even those with competing priorities.
Dr. Nakama’s contributions for improving how young people prepare for their careers have come through active collaboration in Hawai’i’s high school education and communities. More recently, her efforts have broadened to include expanding college access to historically underrepresented students in STEM careers, including minorities and women in cybersecurity and mobile forensics via partnerships beyond Hawai’i. Her endeavors include creating study-abroad opportunities for Maui and international students, and addressing the shortage of K-12 teachers by creating a pre-service teacher preparation program that recruits native Hawaiian and Filipino STEM professionals to become K-12 teachers for Maui.
Dr. Nakama’s strategic and practical insights in collaborating across multiple sectors — including K-12, higher education, and employers — guide leaders to apply knowledge to real-world scenarios and settings. She looks at situations from an outlier’s perspective and is proficient at adapting knowledge and skills to different situations and environments.
As Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at University of Hawai’i Maui College, Dr. Nakama designed programs of career studies for K-12 and college students with the aim of increasing the college transition rates of the underachieving and underrepresented. Her reputation for being honest, consistent, and trustworthy made her an esteemed member of both her faculty and the many panels and organizations on which she served.
Dr. Nakama graduated from the University of Hawai’i – Manoa with a doctorate in philosophy. She lives in Kula, Maui, with her husband and enjoys reading and traveling to experience different customs.
