Jeannette G. Koijane, MPH, is the Executive Director of Kōkua Mau, a statewide network of organizations and individuals leading a movement to improve care. A membership organization, Kōkua Mau partners with health plans, healthy systems, hospices, government agencies and other organizations statewide. Kōkua Mau strives to make advance care planning and open communication about care and support for those with serious illness and their loved ones, including end-of-life care, the cultural norm. Kōkua Mau’s website is seen as the statewide resource for quality, non-biased information on resources and information on serious illness including palliative care, hospice care, bereavement, and Advance Care Planning, including Advance Directives and POLST and information in 11 languages. Kōkua Mau was established in 1999 and works throughout the state. Jeannette has served as the Executive Director since 2010.
Jeannette received her graduate degree in Public Health from the University of Hawaii and her undergraduate degree from Cornell University. She has been involved with serious illness care since 1988, beginning in the field of HIV/AIDS working with the AIDS Memorial Quilt as the Director of International Programs and then in a variety of research and educational positions in Berlin, Germany, and San Francisco. Jeannette has worked in the US Affiliated Pacific Islands helping to develop palliative care programs through a collaboration with the Cancer Council of the Pacific Islands, the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, and John A. Burns School of Medicine.
