Who We Are

HiAEYC is the Hawaii state affiliate of the National Association of Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Founded in 1972, HiAEYC grew from 123 members to over 900 members. Annually, HiAEYC in collaboration with other early childhood organizations and state government offers an early childhood state conference drawing over 1,500 participants.

A Quarterly newsletter is published and available to members. HiAEYC strongly advocates for improved education, health, and family support policies and programs for young children and their families at the local, state, and national government level and secures financial support from membership and local philanthrophy.

HiAEYC has statewide member representation on the governing board through these members and in conjunction with county relationships they offer island conferences, workshops and family events.

Through NAEYC, members have access to professional journal Young Children, Teaching Young Children a magazine for Teachers, additional professional publications, and information on conferences and resources across the nation. NAEYC also houses the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs, which offers an accreditation process for early childhood programs.

Some of our accomplishments…

  • HiAEYC developed and implemented the Hawaii Early Childhood Accreditation Project in 2002.

  • HiAEYC established a Career Development System planning process in 1996.

  • 2006-2008 HiAEYC serves on ECE Task Force for ACT 151 & Co Chaired Act 259.

  • HiAEYC advocated for strong licensing regulations for both preschool and infant/toddler care.

  • 2011 HiAEYC launches public awareness campaign: Early Education and Care-Bank on it!

  • HiAEYC is an organizer of the Annual Early Childhood and Leadership Conferences across the Hawaiian Islands, bringing together over 1,500 participants.

Board & Staff

2026 Board & Staff

  • Mandie Gibson – PRESIDENT

  • Kapua Hussey – VP MEMBERSHIP

  • Brenda Watanabe – VP PUBLIC POLICY

  • Jayne Arasaki  – TREASURER

  • Larae Balag  - SECRETARY

  • Vacant -  Hawai‘i County Representative

  • Julie Kalakau - Honolulu County Representative

  • Sue Macklin - Kaua‘i County Representative

  • Alex Domingo - Maui County Representative
     

  • Cherilyn Shiinoki  - MEMBER-AT-LARGE

  • Valley Varma - MEMBER-AT-LARGE

  • Liz Santa Ana  – MEMBER-AT-LARGE

  • Vacant - MEMBER-AT-LARGE

  • Vacant - MEMBER-AT-LARGE

Privacy Policy

We are committed to protecting your privacy online. When you visit our site, we may collect personal information from you such as your name and e-mail address. Our third party hosting company will collect additional information such as the URL you came from, your IP address, your domain name, your browser type, the country and state where your server is located, and the pages that were viewed during your visit to our site. All this information is kept on a secure server to protect it from outside parties.

We do not sell or rent personal information to others. We use your information only for the limited purposes of sending you updates and useful information about our programs, promotional information, enhancing the site operation, for statistical purposes, and for overall systems administration.

We understand and respect the right to privacy.

NAEYC Code of Conduct

NAEYC recognizes that those who work with young children face many daily decisions that have moral and ethical implications. The NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct offers guidelines for responsible behavior and sets forth a common basis for resolving the principal ethical dilemmas encountered in early childhood care and education. The Statement of Commitment is not part of the Code but is a personal acknowledgement of an individual’s willingness to embrace the distinctive values and moral obligations of the field of early childhood care and education.

The primary focus of the Code is on daily practice with children and their families in programs for children from birth through 8 years of age, such as infant/toddler programs, preschool and prekindergarten programs, child care centers, hospital and child life settings, family child care homes, kindergartens, and primary classrooms. When the issues involve young children, then these provisions also apply to specialists who do not work directly with children, including program administrators, parent educators, early childhood adult educators, and officials with responsibility for program monitoring and licensing.

NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment

To find out more, visit the Ethical Conduct page on the NAEYC website.

Contact Us

We welcome any comments or questions you may have concerning early childhood education or the Hawaii Association for the Education of Young Children.

Phone: (808) 942-4708

Email: haeyc@hawaiihaeyc.org

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