Keoni Lee brings a wealth of experience to HIR as a successful social entrepreneur and participant in HIR’s inaugural cohort.

He co-founded ʻŌiwi TV – a media production company that leverages the power of media to reshape the narratives of the modern Hawaiian experience. He also co-founded Waiwai Collective – a contemporary Hawaiian gathering space growing a community and movement grounded in collective values and shared responsibilities to mobilize social change in Hawaiʻi.

Recruited in 2018 by co-founders Lisa Kleissner & Neil Hannahs as HIR’s founding CEO, Keoni also served as a founding Board Member and has served as Co-CEO alongside Miwa Tamanaha since 2024.

Keoni has a MBA from the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His leadership accomplishments garnered his selection as a fellow in the Omidyar Fellows program, the First Nations Futures Program, the Just Economy Institute, and was named 2021 HVCA Investor of the Year along with HIR Co-Founder Lisa Kleissner. He is a member of Toniic, the global action community for impact investing, and serves on numerous non-profit boards with a focus on education and local food production.