At the Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture  & Design, where art, nature and ideas converge, we walk with John Leong.

Like this place, his  work is about transformation and connection: protecting Hawaiʻi's natural resources,  building hope in places once left behind, and empowering young people once counted out.

Growing up in Nuʻuanu Valley, John attended  Punahou School, and worked at the family business.

Our family had a family restaurant, the Wailana.

So that was a lot of fun.

My grandfather started it and so I got a chance to see what a  business was like, a locally owned business, cared for its customers and he always took care of  his employees, helped them to grow and they would be there for decades, working at the Wailana.

And he always took care of them.

And I saw how he was using his business to build a community, and  that's one of the things that was inspiring to me.

That sense of responsibility to people  and place, would become his compass.

But it was the natural world itself  that turned inspiration into a calling.

It was when I was in the Youth Conservation  Corps under the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

It was a pilot program to get young  adults interested in conservation in Hawaiʻi.

And it gave me a much wider view  of what Hawaiʻi's resources and the state of our resources where we're at.

And  realizing how fragile our ecosystems were, how few native species we had and  high level of endangered species, high level invasive species.

And it just kind of  started to put a calling in my heart that you know someone's got to do something about protecting the  long-term health of our lands and our community.

You go away to college, tell  me about that experience.

Yeah, so I went off to do what most people that  want to pursue environmental careers do.

I went to study business at Wharton.

(Laughs) So, it was such a great opportunity to be so far from home, whole different mentality.

Although we were in the city of brotherly love, it didn't feel what Hawaiʻi felt like where you  have the aloha spirit there.

And Philadelphia was just fast-paced, everyone for themselves and  it solidified in my heart that I didn't want to be a continuation of the brain drain  I wanted to do something that would take this opportunity that I've been given  and bring back something to Hawaiʻi.

That feels incredibly altruistic,  especially going to a place like Wharton.

The natural path is to go to New  York and to go to investment banking or to go to something where you're making quite a  bit of money as a young person.

Did you not feel any tension between the decision  or was Hawaii clearly the way to go?

It was definitely tension.

I had gotten  offers in New York and in San Francisco to work banking and startups in San Francisco  and there was a pull.

And I remember walking with entrepreneurial professor, Miles  Bass, on the streets of Philadelphia, and Miles said if you're called to do something  specific in this world and you don't do it, you're not only going to lose out, but others are going  to lose out too.

And so, that really spoke to me, I just felt like you know Hawaiʻi, it felt like,  yeah, there's a risk to it, but to me the reward, the outcome and the opportunity if I was to  succeed felt so much greater than that risk.

So, John came home, and with his wife  Julianna in 2000, founded Pono Pacific, Hawai‘i’s first private conservation company.

The early days were lean, the mission clear: protect the islands’ natural resources and prove  that business could serve the greater good.

Started out with nothing.

I think I had savings a  couple thousand dollars.

And my grandmother gave me a couple thousand dollars to help seed us  and we relied on the kindness of our family.

My mom shared her computer with us, we worked  out of the house.

My uncle would let us borrow his truck.

He had a four-wheel drive truck  for fishing, but when we needed to access the mountains to do projects we utilized  the truck, so it's just very bootstrapped.

We were so grass roots, we were like below the  earth and we were the nodules and the roots.

So, but it was a lot of fun and we got to do  work that we felt was really important.

Today, Pono Pacific manages more than  40,000 acres of land across six islands, from fencing rare habitats to removing  millions of pounds of invasive algae, protecting some of the most  fragile ecosystems on the planet.

What strikes me as interesting about the work  you do is that it's very pro-environment, but it's also pro-business, right?

That  you are in the environmental sector, also out to make money.

Tell me a little bit  about that, because when we traditionally think about environmental organizations,  often they are at odds with business.

Economy, profit, all of those areas,  they can sound like bad words to some, but really, if we do it the right way,  we can use them to fuel good movements.

That there's been adversity between, yes, the  environmental side and the corporation side.

And really, an opportunity in leadership,  I think, is that how do we find that bridge where we can see the good that each side is  trying to do?

Because ultimately there's good people on both sides and they have desires  to make something better in our state.

Protecting the land wasn’t enough, John also  wanted to invest in people who would care for it.

So, he, his wife, and partner Matt Bauer spun off  Kupu, a non-profit workforce development program to educate and train at-risk youth, with roots in  the same conservation work John did as a teenager.

This was really about, developing workforce,  developing the next generation, building capacity, and it was a better model as a non-profit.

So, in 2007, we launched Kupu.

We got the name after working on Hawaiʻi Island where  you're from and seeing the lava fields and kupu kupu ferns are one of the first plants to  come back after a devastating lava flow and it starts to bring life back to the land after  tragedy or challenge.

And so, I think that's the heart of what Kupu was looking to do, is  how do we bring life about in our community?

About 70 to 80% of our young people are  coming from middle to low-income families, and then probably 40% are  coming from severe poverty.

I got the privilege of going to Punahou and  going to Wharton and seeing what that type of education can do for me.

And in  many ways, I wanted to create access to educational outcomes and opportunities  that some people wouldn't have otherwise.

And how many young people  have gone through Kupu now?

God, Yunji, we have probably over 6,500 young  people that have finished the program.

And so, they've gone through different things  from summer to year-round programs.

We're throughout all of Hawaiʻi, but also in  Guam, Saipan, and American Samoa.

So, it's just been a really cool  movement to see come about.

And it's like this whole network.

And so it’s,  you know today, you can go to certain government or nonprofits and see that a big force,  big percentage of their workforces, Kupu alums.

From bootstrapping in the field to building  a nonprofit that spans the Pacific, John has always seen potential in  what others overlook.

Coming up, we step inside the space where  that vision comes to life.

At the Harry and Jeanette  Weinberg Ho‘okupu Center, a once-neglected space has been  transformed into a hub for learning, where students work toward  diplomas and train in the kitchen.

We had a vision for this space that it could  become a place that would help to uplift the most vulnerable in our community It took years of negotiations  with the state to lease the land, and more than six million dollars in  fundraising, to make this a reality.

It was actually kind of vacant for about two  decades.

And it was being used for storage, but for the most part, it had become kind of a  magnet for not great stuff.

It became renamed to the Crack Shack, and people were doing drugs.

There was a lot of houseless, homelessness here, gambling, and other stuff.

After we got  the space and we kind of cleaned it up, the crime rates dropped by about ninety  percent in terms of police calls.

Tell me about some of the stories you hear from graduates and people who  have come through this place.

So there was a young man and he had  been homeless, he had been on drugs, alcohol, and really going through a difficult  situation in his life.

And he had gone a lot of the ways through the program, but he also had  anger issues, and so he was having difficulties with our team.

He ended up leaving the program.

Well, after we finished the renovations of the facility, a man and his fiance  come into the facility.

And they uh, they're looking around.

And he introduces  himself and says, hey, I'm so and so.

He said, yeah, this place really helped me  get in the right direction.

Even though I left the program it just started pushing me  in the right direction, and today, you know, I've graduated from high school, I'm now a manager  at a tech company.

I bought a home in Utah and I'm about to get married, and I need to show my  fiance the place that she saved my life.

Because If it wasn't for this place, I'd be  dead right now.

And that was, for me, such an uplifting and encouraging story as to  why we were doing what we're doing.

And if we had given up, if we just said, you know, this is too  difficult, stories like this may not take place.

This center is full of stories  like that.

In the kitchen, the team started work at 5:30 this morning,  ahead of an executive event tonight.

We appreciate philanthropy and grants we also know  that it's really important for our young people and for the programs continually to be able  to have its own revenue source as well too so that's where we try to add a little bit  of business innovation into what we do and give our young people the opportunities  to also be proud of the work that they can do in their earning and income and  not just getting a handout in life.

So young folks come in here, they get  to sort of intern in shadow and then maybe become a staff member and then  maybe go on to work in a restaurant.

Exactly.

Yeah, so it's a great  way to really try to support the workforce development in Hawaiʻi,  and especially in the culinary area.

Some people may not want to go into culinary after  it but they're going to take transferable skills, It must make you so proud to be in here.

Oh, very proud, yeah.

Especially when you have  great guys like Max.

I mean, not only talented, but good hearts.

And that’s, that's the  kind of folks that we're so excited to see succeed in life and you know they're gonna  be leaders one day that do great things, so.

Roy: If Max doesn't show up, I cry.

Max Lepule went from student to staff  and has the culinary chops to prove it.

Max Lepule:
Kalua pig sliders, we have a hot link  kind of slider, so it's like a Portuguese, it's a kimchi, Portuguese sausage, and then we also  have a Korean barbecue pork.

It's a thin sliced pork belly, marinated in like a spicy sweet kind  of marinade and then that'll go in our sliders.

So, most kids his age know how  to make chicken nuggets and french fries.

You could see them  making some pretty advanced stuff.

Advanced, with tremendous impact.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, this kitchen put out more than 100,000 meals.

What was great one of the comments that I  got from one of our youth was that he was so used to being on the receiving side  of benefits but now he was able to now provide the benefit to the community and  I think it was very empowering for him.

They always say it is better to give  than to receive, right, and then, and to have that kind of agency and to get to  contribute to your community because you know that so many people want to, they just don't  have the means or the mechanisms to do it.

Absolutely.

So, I mean I think that was just one of those un, un, unplanned benefits but  then you realize that the more you serve, you give back, you realize you have  that agency to make a difference.

Once a place of neglect, the center now reflects  a deeper change of the space and those in it.

I mean, you think about what was here prior to  2011 when we started it was a place of darkness, of people were, it was draining life.

People were just coming here to get lost.

And we're able to now transform this  place into a light, a place of life that's breeding hope and opportunity.

I mean, that's the  transformative power of what we can do in place, but also through people and when we come  together.

And that's my hope for our state, is that we can more of these types of projects  that where we can see what seemed like it was impossible, what seemed it was hopeless.

And transform, and not only the physical, but to see life come out of it, and the  people that come through those places.

Yunji de Nise/Host: And what's the hope for next door?

So, our hope next door, is that we just got  approved by the state for a lease approval for 60 years and it's an acre.

And it is an  amazing space that's very underutilized right now.

But we're gonna be transforming the building  there into creating more classrooms, maker space, meeting areas and a little superette at that  we're going to have there that the kids can sell hot items, food items, as well as out of the  makerspace.

Our goal is to be able to give our young people the ability to work with their hands  and then be able sell some of their product that they're creating at that superette.

We're gonna  have more park space and 80 more stalls there for parking.

So, it'll add more value to  the overall park and the community as well.

Yeah, I can just see it.

Surfers coming out of  the water.

They're going to grab a hot meal.

They have a beautiful place to sit in.

I mean,  what a transformation for this neighborhood too.

Yeah, and just think about if this, we  could do this on this little island, what could we do on our bigger island?

What could  we doing on the bigger global island together if we're really intentional and create places  that have just that heart programmed into them?

Still ahead, for John, transforming  places is only part of the journey.

Equally important is transforming  himself, learning when to lead, when to step back, and how to  find balance.

That's coming up.

Leading an organization for 25 years means  growing alongside it.

For John Leong, that's meant rethinking what leadership  looks like, and what it requires of him.

You've had the consistency of leading this  organization throughout its existence, but I'm curious to know how your leadership  style has changed over that time.

I learned the difference between kindness  and niceness, and I think you can be kind, but not necessarily be permissive.

What I grew  up with, thinking that keeping the peace with everyone was part of that aloha spirit  or that kindness that we grew up in here, but really I think that I realized that the  kindness is doing the right thing and getting to it quicker.

And so, I think I've become a  lot quicker decision-maker as I've gone on.

As an entrepreneur, husband, and father of four, John has had to learn balance, shifting  his time and attention as life demands.

You know I heard it shared once that there's  the fulcrum, the power of the fulcrum and sometimes being adept in knowing where you're  best needed.

Sometimes you think that, oh, if I spend four hours here, four hours for us  here, it'll be perfect and just no one move, right?

But I think that the fulcrum  says is that there's a leverage point.

If there's more weight in one area of what you're  doing.

If you slide the fulcrum closer to it, then the thing keeps in balance.

And that fulcrum  is really your time and your attention.

So, I think being adept in knowing where  you're needed at different times.

And so, that's meant that sometimes starting the  business or growing certain initiatives, my time needs to be there.

But there's times  where my kids are going through something or my wife needs me.

So, it's an awareness, I  guess, but then also a flexibility to know that we have to be able to make those shifts  in order to be effective in the different dimensions of life.

Yunj de Nies/Host: I've heard you speak before and I would love  for you to expand on this and maybe it goes back to this idea that you shared about  the fulcrum, but about understanding what season of life you're in and understanding  what seasons of life you’re in as a leader.

I think as a leader, you're going to go through  different phases, I took a sabbatical actually about a year or so ago, which is really good  for me, because I had gone through a time where I lost my dad a few years back and when he passed  away my mom, soon after that, got dementia.

So, I came to a place where I felt that now I'm the  older son carrying me in our family.

You know, caring for my kids, wife, and then the one to  really look up to in my immediate family.

And so, it was kind of a time where I just did a lot of  soul searching as well and but taking that pause, I think is so important for any leader  or any person really to just really think through where we're at in life.

And I realized at that point that, so, some of the things that were my motivations that  got me to where I am may have been successful in helping me get me there, but they weren't  going to be successful in the next season.

You think about a car and you get off,  you know you start from zero and you start moving and you're in first gear and that  gear has a lot of torque, it's moving and um you push on the gas and it gets it going but  if you don't change gears you're going to start to burn out and so really you can get a much  higher gear and using less gas but traveling at a faster pace and I feel that's kind of as a  leader what we have to learn how It's like, okay, we have a gear that got us going in our career  but we have to shift up in gears and identifying what gear we're in and what that calling of that  gear is to be able to then move in that design.

What gear would you say you're in now?

Maybe third.

I think that, I think  for me third gear is a gear where I am definitely not as hands-on, really more around  our building strategy and partnerships in what we're doing.

I would love to be able to also look  at how do we bring in more resources to our state that can now help to seed and plant and nourish  the work that's being done by other leaders.

I'm curious to know what you think  Hawaiʻi needs from its leaders right now.

I really believe that Hawaiʻi has a  calling to be a lighthouse to the nations, that the work that we do here, how we do it,  and the heart in which we do it really needs to just transcend our shores.

And now more than  ever, I believe the way we do things in Hawaiʻi, the community that we're building, is needed in  our world.

And that heart in which we have unity, that we have compassion, kindness.

Those  are the things that our world needs to see more of.

And so, the more we succeed as  a state, I think it gives a broader hope to the broader world as well too.

And  so yeah, this is a really critical time in Hawaiʻi's history and our leaders, our  community, it's time for us to go all in.

Is there a quote or maxim that you  lean on when things are difficult?

My wife had a quote on our refrigerator at one  point.

It was from a book called Dream Releasers, and it said to die empty.

We don't wanna be  selfish and just take our dreams with us to the grave, but rather part of us is to have  that generosity to live in a way that's gonna enlighten and to help others and to die empty,  not holding on to something we wished we did, but to do it while we're here on this earth.

And so, for me, that's one of the things that I always hold onto is that I want the time that  I have.

I don't know how long I'll have here, but to use it wisely, to make the world  better, to set the next generation up.

We always end the same, so I want to ask you what's the best  piece of advice you've ever received?

Another Teddy Roosevelt quote that comes  about is that comparison is the thief of joy, and I just feel like, you know, I'm thinking  about this with my own kids and you know as they're teenagers and others right now too.

That we're all going to walk our own path, and knowing what that authentic path is  for yourself is so important because if you don't and you're comparing yourself or  wanting to go the way someone else went, then we might be cutting ourselves  short from what we could be doing, so.

In our moment right now, we live in  such a highly comparative culture.

Oh yeah, social media, everything, right?

So, that really does ring true for me,  that comparison is the thief of joy.

It really is.

And I think that's, I guess with  that, sometimes the important thing is to just quiet life down too.

It doesn't have to be  a six-month sabbatical, but it could be an afternoon.

And every day I'll have a little  bit of a quiet time to read, to meditate, walk.

But I think it's really important because  that helps to provide some buffer to all the other stuff you're going to get throughout the  day, whether it be in social media or emails or whatever, just conversations you have to just  re-anchor yourself because if we don't make those intentional times and we just go from one thing  to the other, it's easy to just go on autopilot and it's also easy to just start looking at  what everyone else says and start to find our strength in that, where our strength isn't  found in that, it’ss found in quiet and peace.

John's journey shows that leadership isn’t  about comparison, but conviction, daring to act, and trusting that small steps can spark big  change.

For a Leader’s Journey, I’m Yunji de Nies.