Makalika Destarte Nāholowa’a (she/her), Executive Director of Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation

Under the direction of the Board, Makalika leads and manages the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation as its Executive Director. NHLC is a public interest, non-profit law firm wholly dedicated to indigenous Hawaiian rights, and the protection and advancement of Native Hawaiian culture and identity. Each year NHLC helps hundreds of clients and their families with matters that range from brief service to litigation that has taken our team to appellate courts more than 50 times. From help with leaseholds to trust lands, the protection of ancestral burials and repatriation of ancestral remains, defense in quiet title actions, and protection and access to lands and waters necessary for indigenous religious and cultural practice, NHLC stands with the lahui as legal counselors and advocates.

Before joining NHLC, Makalika worked for 8 years at Microsoft Corporation and 3 years at the law firm Perkins Coie.  Makalika has a strong history of bar service at the American Bar Association, National Native American Bar Association, International Trademark Association, and she is a member of numerous others bars, including the Native Hawaiian Bar. Makalika is a student of Kumu Lynette Paglinawan learning the traditional Hawaiian dispute resolution practice called ho’oponopono. Makalika studied law at Columbia University and Computational Mathematics at Arizona State University.

Dr. Vijeth Iyengar (he/him), Director of Global Aging at AARP

A cognitive neuroscientist by training, Dr. Vijeth Iyengar serves as the Director of Global Aging at AARP where he leads cutting-edge research, drives thought leadership on global aging issues and cultivates relationships and strategic alliances to promote AARP’s vision in service of older adults everywhere.

Prior to joining AARP, from the years 2016-2021, Dr. Iyengar served – as a career civil servant spanning three administrations – in a variety of roles across the U.S. Federal Government including as Brain Health Lead and Technical Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aging at the Administration for Community Living, as a Policy Advisor to the 4th U.S. Chief Technology Officer at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, as co-lead coordinator of the Older Adult working group for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2020/2030 initiative, and as lead author of the 2018-2022 U.S. country report for the Fourth Review and Appraisal of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing – a process overseen by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Additionally – while in U.S. Federal service – he completed a secondment at the Pan American Health Organization’s Mental Health and Substance Use Unit where he chronicled member-state progress towards indicators found in the 2015 Strategy and Plan of Action on Dementias in Older Persons.

Dr. Iyengar has contributed to articles appearing in leading venues including the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, JAMA Health Forum, Pan American Journal of Public Health, Scientific American, STAT News, and the U.S. National Academy of Medicine. Additionally, he serves as Co-Guest Editor of a Special Issue of the Clinical Gerontologist examining cross-cultural strategies to address brain and mental health in underserved populations.

A native of Louisiana, he was a visiting undergraduate student at Cornell University, received his bachelor’s degree from Tulane University, and received his masters and doctoral degrees from Duke University. Among other recognitions, Dr. Iyengar was a Presidential Management Fellow, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and selected as a 2020 Aspen Ideas Festival Health Fellow. He is a volunteer-mentor for College Bound, Inc., sits on the Global Board of Directors of the Duke University Alumni Association, and a mentor for the Techstars Future of Longevity Accelerator.