Featured Testimonials

Kristen Yung | Aspiring Physician

Hawaii Youth To Medicine


If it wasn’t for Ignite A Life Foundation, I wouldn’t be pursuing a medical degree. Something was missing in my life. I’ve done a lot from Manager at a Bank, to running my own Leadership Coaching Company, and attending leadership conferences to help me grow as a person. I was searching for what was next. The internship Ignite A Life Foundation offered through Maui Cardiology opened a door where others were closed. It was through this I made the decision to take what I was already doing to help people, to the next level and become a Physician for the Island as it is so desperately needed. Learning the ins and outs of a successful private practice I find is equally as important as the knowledge we will learn to help people medically, which I found is a very unique thing Ignite A Life provides. Ignite A Life is so generous in continuously giving so much to the youth with a vision far bigger than themselves which makes it so much more exciting to be a part of. There is no better place to be supported while being able to give back to the community. Our home and our people on this Island.

Kahu David & Kenda Kapaku | Ministers & Coconut Basket Weavers

Ignite A Life


Aloha, we are from Honokohau Valley, Maui. We are Ministers, Coconut Basket weavers and jewelry makers part-time vendors. We are a part of Ignite A Life Foundation because we believe that everything rises and falls on leadership. Everyone is born a leader in the making. Ignite A Life gave us an opportunity to impact youth leaders. To watch a young person grow in their leadership is fulfilling. We find our success in our successors, and that is why we continue to support this Foundation.

Danny Ornelas | Microsoft Account Advisor

Hawaii Leaders Core


Howzit, I'm Danny. I'm just your average Haole boy from the West Side. Currently, I'm a West Side boy in a high tech world. I work at Microsoft in the Seattle area as an Account Advisor. Although at Microsoft is my career, my passion is in helping others, specifically young people in Hawai'i. I believe that young people in Hawai'i have had a rough deal. The programs and resources available for young people who wish to climb into different income brackets and build generational wealth are lacking. The work that the Ignite a Life Foundation does to give young , underserved populations of Hawai'i a chance at developing the skills needed to break into a successful career has literally changed my life forever. You see, I'm not your average tech nerd who went to an Ivy League school and can write code in his sleep. Before Ignite A life I was a young man who was headed down the wrong path, and surrounded himself with peers who didn't challenge his decisions. My home life was difficult as my family struggled with poverty, as many families in Hawai'i do. I was consumed by the weight of traumatic events in my life such as sexual abuse and homelessness, and resorted to violence and intimidation to receive the admiration and significance I craved as a hurt young man. All of this changed when one lolo buggah named Alex Muto decided to take him and 40 of his friends on an adventure to San Diego to attend a Youth Leadership event. I learned how to use my drive for significance and admiration in productive ways by serving my community. I partnered with Alex Muto and Jacob Lum Lung to go around Maui, inspiring other youth. Even though I was still facing issues of poverty, the Ignite a Life Foundation was there every step of the way giving me a support network to work off of. With their help, not only did I survive but I thrived. The Ignite a Life Foundation was foundational to many of my accomplishments in life. In 2017 during my senior Year of Highschool I gave a speech that was the culmination of years of influence the Ignite a Life foundation had on my life. I gave a Ted X talk at Seabury Hall on overcoming a victimhood mindset by using circumstances in your life as fuel to overcome and give back to those around you. Due to that speech, and the community work I did with the Ignite a Life Foundation I went on to receive one of the most prestigious college scholarships in our nation's history, the Horatio Alger National Scholarship. I didn't end up finishing college, but as the Ignite a Life Foundation instilled in me a drive to persevere and want more in life I moved to Seattle to pursue a meaningful career. Here I used such skills the Ignite a Life Foundation instilled in me to secure a role at Microsoft through a vocational program known as "Year Up". Now, I look back everyday on my time as a participant of the Ignite a Life Foundation with immense gratitude. The Ignite a Life Foundation ignited my life forever, and it can ignite yours too. Cammi is done, Anna no pic yet, where does Danny Go? where do you go? Also need the 3 testimonials for the page, along with the other bios and pics

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