Elizabeth Lindsey

Dr. Elizabeth Kapu’uwailani Lindsey is the first Polynesian explorer and female Fellow in the history of the National Geographic Society. A cultural anthropologist, Lindsey travels to the world’s most remote regions documenting indigenous mastery and science. Lindsey’s disruptive teaching of “Moment of Mastery” is based on first-hand experience and is reshaping Western perspectives on global leadership and cultural evolution. Her international lectures at the world’s leading academic institutions and technology companies are an inspiring call-to-action. From the unwavering courage of navigator-priests who sail thousands of miles without the use of maps or instruments to the stunning accuracy of sea nomads who averted danger during the 2004 tsunami, such demonstrations of mastery and wisdom provide invaluable lessons for 21st century leaders.

Her work recognizes renowned Grand Master Navigator Pius “Mau” Piailug of Micronesia, her mentor with whom she studied ethnonavigation. It also includes the documentation of Moken, a tribe of Southeast Asian sea nomads, New Zealand’s Māori elders, Q'ero priests of Peru, and qi kung masters in China’s temple caves.

Elizabeth is an advisor to global organizations and serves on such boards as the Tibet Fund for His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. She also provides strategic planning support to United Nations ambassadors who work on behalf of environmental refugees faced with the punishing realities of climate crisis.

Raised by Hawaiian elders, Lindsey directed, and produced Then There Were None, a documentary film that chronicles the untold plight of native Hawaiians. It is considered a Hawaiian historical classic and has received numerous international awards, including the prestigious CINE Eagle Award.

Lindsey, who has created scholarships in Asia, India, and Hawai’i, is the recipient of the United Nations Visionary Award.