Congratulations to APAHI’s 2026 inductees into the AICP College of Fellows

Induction into the AICP College of Fellows is the highest honor bestowed by the American Institute of Certified Planners. Fellows are nominated and selected by their peers in recognition of exceptional, sustained contributions that have significantly advanced the planning profession and strengthened the communities they serve. All Fellows are long‑standing AICP members who have demonstrated excellence in professional practice, teaching and mentoring, research, and community leadership.

Hoʻomaikaʻi to APAHI’s own Kawika McKeague and Marie Williams for their induction into the 2026 AICP College of Fellows.

Mark Kawika McKeague has dedicated his work as a planner for the past 25 years to advancing culturally grounded approaches that restore justice, elevate Indigenous knowledge systems, and empower communities to define their own futures.

For Kawika, planning has never been just about zoning codes or policy documents. It has always been about “kuleana”, an ancestral responsibility and moral and ethical obligation to listen, to serve, and to ensure that those most impacted by planning decisions have a meaningful voice in shaping what comes next.

As a Native Hawaiian planner and cultural practitioner, Kawika has demonstrated sustained leadership in policy development, long-range planning, and community-based initiatives. His work consistently integrates cultural values into public agencies, private firms, nonprofit organizations, and institutional systems. Central to this practice is reclaiming planning as a space for healing, particularly for communities affected by displacement, trauma, and cultural loss.

Career highlights include leading the master planning and entitlement strategy for Puʻuhonua o Waiʻanae Farm Village; advancing a precedent-setting kuleana homestead land tenure model at King’s Landing; and creating a 10‑year Cultural Resource Management Plan for more than 375,000 acres of ancestral lands for Kamehameha Schools. Kawika also led descendant engagement and cultural planning for the Kalaupapa Memorial Project and guided the Anahola community in reframing land‑use planning as a trauma‑informed, culture‑based response to youth suicide.

At its core, Kawika’s work advances equity, restores cultural presence, and affirms planning as a tool for self‑determination, identity, and justice grounded in humility, purpose, and truth.

Marie Williams is the Long-Range Planning Division Manager for the County of Kauaʻi Planning Department. Marie has led updates of the County General Plan, Climate Adaptation and Action Plan, and multiple community and town plans. Her work has been recognized with two National Planning Awards from the American Planning Association, and several APA-Hawaiʻi Chapter awards.

Originally from the North Shore of Oʻahu, Marie earned dual bachelor’s degrees in Geography and Communications from Brigham Young University. Her interest in community planning was sparked while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa, leading her to pursue a Master of City and Regional Planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Upon returning home to Hawaiʻi, she began her career with the County of Kauaʻi, where she has spent nearly two decades shaping plans and policies, with a focus on healthy places, active transportation, and climate change resiliency.

Marie has played a role in modernizing Kauaʻi’s planning and zoning framework, including the adoption of innovative policies and form-based codes. Her work includes adoption of Kauaʻi’s first Complete Streets policy and the recent completion of the County’s Climate Adaptation and Action Plan. She is also the long-time chair of Get Fit Kauaʻi’s Built Environment Task Force and board member of Kauaʻi Path, an organization dedicated to making active transportation safer across Kauaʻi. Outside of work, Marie is the busy mother of three active kids and serves on the board of Swim Kauaʻi Aquatics.