Keoni DeFranco is an Oʻahu based activist & creative focused on developing a sustainable, regenerative Hawaiʻi economy rooted in self determination, aloha aina & ea.
Keoni is a Kanaka ʻOiwi (Native Hawaiian) activist fighting to increasing land, water, food, spiritual & human rights for all indigenous peoples around the world.
He serves as the Managing Director of Malama Studios at the Purple Maiʻa Foundation, developing a portfolio of companies at the intersection of innovative technology and Native Hawaiian culture, with a focus on local job creation & Waiwai (community wealth).
He is an organizer with O’ahu Water Protectors & Ka’ohewai, fighting to defuel & decommission Red Hill Fuel Facility, which has leaked millions of gallons of petroleum into O’ahu’s sole source aquifer.
He is also a representative to the United Nations for IAAI, a NGO focused on climate change. He has spent time on the front lines of battles for justice such as Standing Rock and Mauna Kea.
Malama Studios (Purple Mai’a Foundation)
Managing Director
Sept 2021–Present
Malama Studio is the innovation division at Purple Maiʻa Foundation, a Native Hawaiian led profit that provides design programs rooted in indigenous innovation, cutting edge technology and the values of Hawai’i. We are developing & supporting a portfolio of innovative companies to achieve a sustainable and sovereign Hawaiʻi
We aim to strengthen Hawaiʻi’s economy through socially & environmentally regenerative businesses, & aid in the creation of living-wage jobs for Kanaka ʻoiwi in Hawaiʻi.
Current programs include:
Malama Design Studio
An accelerator for Native Hawaiian small businesses rooted in Oiwi values, providing services in graphic design, website support, branding, and social media management,
Digital Creators
Digital Creators is an 11-week course designed to help Hawaiʻi-based individuals develop essential skills for a career in digital marketing and graphic design.
Ka Maka ʻInana
A place-based design thinking course, Ka Maka ʻInana seeks to inform the way we think about and practice design to embed equity and cultural grounding in all of the things that we create.
Purple Prize
The Purple Prize is a Design Challenge and “Kokua Connector” with the goal of generating waiwai (collective wellbeing) for people and place through solutions built by those rooted in Hawaiʻi nei and experienced with place-based design for Hawaiʻi nei.
Food+ Policy
Food+ is a work-based learning internship that gives college students a crash course in civic engagement, data science, and online and offline outreach tools through work in food systems advocacy in Hawaiʻi.
Life Biosciences
CEO (LifeLua LLC)
Oct 2018 – Oct 2019
Life Biosciences is the first & largest biotech company addressing the eight pathways of age-related decline in totality. LifeLua was tasked with designing a Machine Learning platform to increase the speed of the drug discovery process. Led product development & developed revenue model.
Acquired by Dr. First Oct 2019.
Lua
Founder & CEO
Feb 2010–Oct 2018
Lua Technologies was a secure, mobile-first messaging & video conferencing SaaS platform for Healthcare & Fortune 500 companies.
Founded company, designed product & led fundraising process.
Set and implemented company vision. Hired and led leadership, sales, engineering, product, business development and marketing teams.
Managed sales pipeline, self-prospected & closed large enterprise accounts. Led a national team of sales representatives. Worked with C-Suite to develop and deploy secure mobile enterprise strategies.
Clients included Apple, LiveNation, Cisco, NFL & NBA Teams, SXSW
Acquired by Life Biosciences in Oct 2018.
