Charter School Commissioner Veincent

Known affectionately by many as “Kumu Lehua,” Dr. Lehua Mark Veincent is on the vanguard of Hawaiian language and cultural education. The Hawaii Island native, with genealogical ties to Kaʻū, Puna, Keaukaha and Panaʻewa, earned dual degrees at UH-Hilo – a BA in Hawaiian studies and a BBA in business in 1988, plus a teacher certification in 1990. He has also earned two master’s degrees from UH Manoa, in curriculum and instruction in 1999, and in educational administration in 2002 and a third master’s degree in Business Administration from Grand Canyon University in December, 2019. In 2016, Kumu Lehua earned his Ph.D. in Education from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. His doctoral’s work focused on cultural knowledge and education within a given community in strengthening one’s identity and recognizing the importance of one’s mauli, uniqueness.

For over 35 years, Kumu Lehua has served as an educator on Hawai‘i and Maui Islands. He has taught kindergarten through 12th grades, and has also served as a lecturer and supervisor in the teacher education program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Kumu Lehua has served as Hawaiian Language instructor for over 20 years for the DOE Community School for Adults and at the Hawaiʻi Community College. As Hawaiʻi Island is an important part of his foundation, Kumu Lehua has sat on numerous school and community boards.

In 2001, Veincent co-founded the Ke Ana La‘ahana Public Charter School in Keaukaha – a 7 th -12 th grade cultural-based school. He has served as a Department of Education State Resource Teacher in Hawaiian studies and language, vice principal at Hilo Intermediate and Hilo High Schools, principal of Ke Ana La‘ahana, and principal of Keaukaha School. Since 2012, he has served as Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i high school principal.