Punahou School to host ‘Festival of Ideas,’ free to public

Punahou School is opening its first “Festival of Ideas” to the public, with panels and workshops that aim to spur innovation and entrepreneurship in Hawaii.

“Punahou is sort of a launchpad, if you will, of this effort, but it’s really designed to include people all across the islands and also people across the world,” said keynote speaker Steve Case, a 1976 alumnus and digital pioneer who co-founded America Online (AOL) and now leads the investment firm Revolution, which backs entrepreneurs.

Free tickets are available starting today for the online event, which runs from Monday through Wednesday. It will bring alumni and experts together with students, faculty and other Hawaii residents to share ideas and forge connections.

Workshops by students and teachers will showcase innovations as far-flung as vertical gardens, augmented reality and creating artificial intelligence. Some students will even have a chance to pitch their ideas, “Shark Tank” style, to top talent in the entrepreneurial world.

Case, who is chairman of the Case Foundation as well as the Smithsonian Board of Regents, will give the opening address, “Building Bold Futures,” followed by a Q&A with fellow alumnus Mark Fukunaga, chairman of Servco Pacific Inc.

Case’s wife, Jean, who chairs the National Geographic Society Board of Trustees and is CEO of the Case Foundation, will lead a panel titled “Fearless Innovation in Education.” Other panels include “Reinventing a Healthier Planet” and “Future Now: Revolutionary Change.”

“The pandemic has created a number of terrible challenges, but also there is a little bit of a silver lining,” Steve Case said in an interview. “People have realized that some things that are pretty fundamental, like health care, education, even how we think about work, needed to change, and a lot of people are thinking about ways to do it differently.”

As people rethink their futures and where they choose to work and live, it could be to Hawaii’s advantage, he said.

“Entrepreneurs change the world and bring a fresh perspective, kind of challenge the core assumptions, bring new ideas, some of which end up not being successful,” he said. “That’s how innovation happens. That’s how job creation happens.”

“I think it can accelerate in the years to come if people in Hawaii recognize this moment and work together in a collaborative way to create a stronger startup community and culture, and have access to the capital they need,” Case said. “There’s an African proverb that I love which is that if you want to go quickly, you can go alone, but if you want to go far, you must go together.”

Punahou President Mike Latham said the festival, which coincides with alumni week, could foster a global community of learners who inspire one another, across the age spectrum. Half of the school’s alumni live outside of the state.

“We are looking forward to having a really broad and engaged audience,” he said. “This is the kind of thing that we’ve discovered we have been able to build in the shadow of the pandemic.”

“I personally find this really compelling because it’s a way for us to bring students into conversation with faculty and alumni around big issues that they’re going to confront in their own lifetimes,” he said. “Whether it’s sustainability and climate change, or renewable energy or food security or what the future of education should look like, these are all inherently interdisciplinary questions. They don’t sit within the walls of a particular classroom.”

Also at the festival, Punahou trustee Duane Kurisu, chairman of aio, will have a conversation with John De Fries, president of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, on “Rediscovering and Sustaining Hawaii’s Soul.” De Fries said he considers that vital.

“Part of it for me has to do with the urgency, I think, as we look around at the way America continues to fragment itself around politics, exacerbated by the pandemic where even wearing a mask becomes a political issue,” De Fries said. “And you start looking at the increasing number of hate crimes directed at ethnic groups.”

“This discussion about Hawaii’s identity, about its soul, is really, I believe, an important prerequisite to ensuring that we do not fall into that same pattern that the rest of America is in, that we elevate ourselves and become a beacon over time.”

“Hawaii was in crisis before the pandemic hit, and by that I mean we have evolved an economic model that has been nearly impossible for our children to remain here, raise their families and enjoy any quality of life,” De Fries said.

He takes heart from local efforts such as the Hawaii Community Foundation’s “Change Framework,” Hawaii Green Growth’s “Aloha+ Challenge” and the Hokule‘a’s worldwide voyage.

“It’s about envisioning a future in Hawaii that is sustainable,” he said, “and part of that sustainability is the ability for our own people to flourish here and not feel they need to relocate out of state in order to fulfill their dreams.”

‘FESTIVAL OF IDEAS’

To learn more about the festival and register:

>> Visit: punahou.edu/festival-of-ideas