Dr. Aaron J. Salā is President and CEO of Gravitas Pasifika, a boutique firm intent on harnessing the power of creative storytelling to advance Native Hawaiian, local Hawaiʻi, and Pasifika worldview and talent through the exploration and integration of, and experimentation with, creativity in production. He is also founder of The Native Imaginative, a not-for-profit corporation committed to the engagement with, education about, and elevation of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities through curriculum development and cultural consultancy, arts advocacy, creative professional development, and festival production focused upon the celebration of NHPI everything. Dr. Salā is the current festival director for the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture.

Education

  • PhD in Ethnomusicology, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, 2021
  • MA in Ethnomusicology, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, 2011
  • BA in Music, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, 2000