About Hivā

Our Why

We are doing this work because there is a need — a deep, undeniable need for Pacific voices, values, and ways of knowing to be seen and heard in the spaces where peace and justice are shaped. Too often, conflict resolution systems are built from outside our cultures, leaving little room for our languages, our stories, and our ways of restoring relationship.

Across schools, workplaces, and communities, we have seen how disconnection grows when people are asked to resolve conflict without cultural grounding or belonging. Our Indigenous knowledge systems — the wisdom of vā, alofa, fa‘aaloalo, and talanoa — offer timeless tools for healing and transformation. These systems are not outdated; they are urgently relevant in a world longing for connection and understanding.

HIVA exists to make space for those voices — to restore Indigenous intelligence in modern peacebuilding. We do this because our ancestors taught us that peace begins not with power, but with relationship. Now, more than ever, the world needs what the Pacific has always known: that when we care for the vā, we care for one another.

What Makes Us Unique

What makes HIVA different is the way we see and hold conflict — not as something to control, but as something to understand. Our work begins where many systems stop: with relationship. We recognize that every conflict carries a story, and every story carries the possibility of healing.

Unlike conventional models built around procedures and outcomes, HIVA centers on the vā — the sacred space between people. We draw from Pacific Indigenous frameworks that see peace as a living relationship, one that requires care, listening, and reciprocity. This means we don’t impose solutions; we create spaces where people can restore balance, dignity, and connection for themselves.

What truly sets HIVA apart is our ability to bridge Western education with cultural belief systems. Our team moves fluently between academic, legal, and community worlds — using knowledge from both to reinforce the friction of intercultural understanding, because every relationship is, at its core, an intercultural relationship.

Our approach weaves Indigenous intelligence, modern mediation practice, and cultural design to respond to conflict in ways that are authentic, inclusive, and transformative. We don’t just resolve disputes — we restore vā, humanity, and belonging.

Our Vision

What if we didn’t see conflict as something bad? What if, instead, we saw it as an opportunity — a space for growth, understanding, and transformation? At HIVA, we imagine a future where conflict is not feared, but embraced as a natural part of human relationship.

We believe conflict can be a teacher — a way to think more deeply, to construct new ideas, and to heal rather than harm. When held with respect and empathy, conflict becomes a bridge, not a barrier. Our vision is a world where people are confident and compassionate in having crucial conversations — where disagreement is not seen as division, but as diversity of thought working toward a shared goal.

Our future vision is simple yet powerful: to build spaces of openness and constructive talanoa — dialogue that is honest, respectful, and restorative. Because conflict will always exist, but peace does not happen by chance. It is built, intentionally, through connection, courage, and care.