Inspired by an orientation on the Maui county's water resources, Jim Hooper took the lessons learned to heart and developed a new water conservation program at Ho'olei, a vacation condominium at Wailea.

Hooper's initiative as director of operations for Ho'olei was the kind of result that coordinators of the Ka Ipu Kukui Fellows program were hoping for when they started the project more than a year ago.

The program, featured in the Maui News today, recently graduated 13 Maui leaders after they spent a year being briefed on Maui's most pressing issues, including environmental challenges and the need to plan for the future. Hooper was the only visitor industry leader in the group. Others came from government, private corporations and nonprofits.

Ka Ipu Kukui Fellows participants were required to meet monthly, sometimes for one to two days, to hear from officials dealing with various island issues and to see up close how they were tackling the situation. Program participants visited places including the state Legislature, watersheds and the Department of Water Supply, the Air Force telescopes at Science City, the Maui Visitors Bureau and Lanai.

Hooper said he has become ever more appreciative of Maui, his home for the last five years. At Ho'olei, Hooper instituted an educational campaign on the vacation rental property by encouraging its guests to conserve water. The company also implemented ways to conserve its own water usage when cleaning linens.

At his home, Hooper said he also became more aware of his own personal water usage, making sure he never let water run without being used. "It really starts in your personal life and then you take it out to wherever you go."

For Rhiannon "Rae" Chandler, the Ka Ipu Kukui Fellows program only confirmed her desire to incorporate Hawaiian values while educating about the importance of being good stewards of the land and natural resources.

Chandler works as program director for the Community Work Day Program. She said she was honored to have participated in the Ka Ipu Kukui Fellows program.

"It was just an incredible experience," Chandler said. "This program is in so much alignment with what I try to do in my life."

Both Hooper and Chandler noted that in every issue covered, the program participants were encouraged to draw their own conclusions at the end of a presentation. "We were often in the same day given opposing sides of an issue, allowed for our own interpretation of what we saw and what we can do," Chandler said.

Chandler said she hasn't made any concrete changes in her life or at her workplace as a result of participating in the program. However, she said she has acquired a better appreciation and even more respect for government officials who wrangle every day with how to protect the island's natural resources.

Applications for participants in the second year of the Ka Ipu Fellows program are being accepted. The program is an initiative of Decisions Maui and Focus Maui Nui, which conceived the idea behind the leadership program operated by the Office of Continuing Education at Maui Community College.

Participants in the program will be charged $1,200 to enroll. The fee for last year's graduates was covered either by their employers or by sponsoring organizations. Employers are also asked to grant time away from work.

Individuals or employers interested in nominating a leader for the program's second year should contact Lori T. Govaars at 984-3406.

For an application or more information, visit www.kaipukukui.org.

Financial aid may also be requested.

Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.