About Ekolu
Rooted in Practice and Love
Land Steward, Lomi Lomi Practitioner, Community Builder
Ekolu Rodrígez (Beniman)
Land Steward & Cultural Practitioner, Indigenous Just Transition
Founder of Kumu Foundation and Aloha Forest
Ekolu Rodrígez (Beniman) is a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner, storyteller, and land steward whose work is rooted in love, practice, and deep relationship with the ʻāina; the living land. A visionary leader in ecological restoration and cultural revitalization, Ekolu bridges ancestral knowledge with contemporary strategies to heal both land and people. Guided by kupuna (elders) and traditional knowledge keepers, he learned early that restoring the environment is inseparable from restoring community, spirit, and identity; a truth that shapes the heart of his life’s work.
Ekolu is the founder of Kumu Foundation, an organization dedicated to cultivating cultural and ecological education for Native youth and communities. Through Kumu, he weaves together ancestral wisdom, scientific understanding, and hands-on practice, nurturing a generation of leaders rooted in reciprocity and relationship with the land. His second initiative, Aloha Forest, transforms degraded landscapes into thriving ecosystems, replanting native species, protecting watersheds, and rekindling cultural connections to place. Both projects reflect Ekolu’s belief that when we restore the land, we restore ourselves.
His leadership is defined by humility, service, and deep aloha. Moving fluidly between ceremony and strategy, planting and policy, Ekolu centers the voices and knowledge of local communities in all he does. His work has inspired partnerships across Hawaiʻi and the Pacific, uniting traditional practitioners, scientists, and changemakers in a shared vision of regeneration and balance.
For Ekolu, the forest is more than a landscape, it is a teacher. “When we return to the forest,” he says, “we remember who we are.” Through his work with Indigenous Just Transition, Ekolu carries forward this teaching, creating pathways for communities to reconnect with land, heal what has been disrupted, and build a future grounded in reciprocity and belonging.