Aloha and Håfa Adai!

I am a native Chamoru of Guåhan(Guam), the largest of the islands in the Marianas chain. I was raised in the undulating limestone plateau of northern Guam, in the waters of the Philippine Sea and the North Pacific Ocean.

I am of the clan Familian Titang, born to Paul Mitsuo Hattori✝ of Kalihi, O’ahu and Fermina Leon Guerrero Perez✝ of the village of Chalan Pago in central Guahan. I am one of nine, sister to Anne, Margaret✝, Yvonne, Paul, Stephen, Thomas, Barbara, and Robert, mother of Timothy Mitsuo
Hattori Sasaki, widow of William Jay Talley✝ of Ohio. I reside in Honolulu on the island of O’ahu, Hawai‘i.

I hold a B.Ed. and Professional Diploma in Secondary Social Studies with a concentration in Pacific Islands History, an M.Ed. in Educational Technology, and an Ed.D. in Professional Educational Practice from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

I am currently an Educational & Cultural Consultant, and teach graduate courses as affiliate faculty in the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Ph.D. program in Learning Design and Technology and Ed.D. in Professional Education Practice program. I also teach courses for Chaminade University of Honolulu’s Educational Doctorate program, focusing on Indigenous Leadership. In late 2025, I retired from the position of Director of the Pacific Islands Development Program with the East-West Center. Previously, I served as a Scholarship Program Specialist with the East-West Center’s Education Program, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Chaminade University from 2017-2019 and was Outreach Director for the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawai’i-Mānoa from 2015-2017 and from 2002-2015, was a faculty member at Kapi’olani Community College where as the Coordinator for the Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching and Technology.

My academic interests include culturally responsive education and leadership, leadership development, and indigenous research methodologies. My dissertation examines culturally responsive educational technology practices.  I am a community organizer, public speaker, author, poet, and serve on the Hawai’i State Board of Education.

I hope to live out the CHamoru saying, I irensia na’lå’la’ i espiritu-ta, Our heritage gives life to our spirit, practicing photography, poetry, weaving, chant, and music to convey CHamoru cultural knowledge. I’m passionate about using technology to empower indigenous peoples and build communities in the aether of cyberspace, envisioning myself and others as taotao tinifok manglo’ – people of the woven winds.

Read more:

Manaotao Sanlagu by Manny Crisostomo, Pacific Daily News

Mary Therese Hattori uses technology to support Micronesians in Hawaii by Michelle Broder Van Dyke, Spectrum News

Artist-in-Residence, Moloka‘i Arts Center, December 2024 https://themolokaidispatch.com/mac-artist-in-residence/

LETTER: In your life journeys, find the best parts of yourself, your cultures, Pacific Daily News, May 23, 2024