About Lokahi Connect

Connecting literacy inquiry, evidence, and community

Lokahi Connect is a nonprofit developing student learning resources, educator learning, and open online tools that make written language more coherent and more learnable.

Meet our leadership ↓ Read our story ↓

Leadership and history

Experience rooted in learners, families, and community

Founder and Executive Director

Stephanie Steinshouer

Stephanie Steinshouer is the Founder and Executive Director of Lokahi Connect and an educational therapist based on Bainbridge Island. Stephanie holds an Educational Therapy Certificate from the University of California, Riverside, and Certified Structured Literacy/Dyslexia Interventionist (C-SLDI) certification from the Center for Effective Reading Instruction (CERI). She also holds the separate Structured Literacy Educator (SLE) Certificate from the International Dyslexia Association (IDA). She is a licensed NILD Educational Therapist with Level II training and NILD teletherapy credentials. These qualifications inform her individualized educational support at Lokahi Connect; its online services are not presented as a formal NILD program. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Washington State Branch of the International Dyslexia Association. Her work focuses on literacy support, educator learning, family engagement, and expanding access to comprehensive dyslexia-informed practices.

Read Stephanie’s public WABIDA profile ↗

Our story

From direct support to broader access

Founded by Stephanie Steinshouer, Lokahi Connect grew from a commitment to supporting learners and families through more coherent, evidence-informed literacy learning. Today, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit develops student learning resources, educator learning, and open online tools, with local roots in Bainbridge Island, Washington, and Maui, Hawaiʻi, and broader access online.

See current services and availability →

What we work toward

Written language should become more understandable, not more mysterious

Lokahi Connect helps students, families, and educators investigate how written language preserves relationships among meaning, morphology, grammar, spelling, history, and context. No single dimension is treated as the whole system.

Student learning

Resources and possible instructional formats are designed to support reasoning, transfer, and meaningful access rather than memorization alone.

Educator learning

Professional learning and coaching may help educators mediate inquiry, document evidence, and preserve linguistic accuracy.

Open resources

Free online tools make structured word investigation available to students, families, and educators beyond a single location.

How we work

Dignity, evidence, and honest boundaries

Preserve learner agency

Learners are treated as capable meaning-makers. Support should expand participation and understanding without lowering expectations.

Use evidence carefully

Student responses and completed tasks are bounded performance evidence. No single answer, speed, modality, or task proves understanding.

Name uncertainty

When linguistic, instructional, access, or implementation evidence is incomplete, questions remain open rather than becoming unsupported conclusions.

Where we work

Local roots and broader online access

Lokahi Connect’s work is rooted in Bainbridge Island, Washington, and Maui, Hawaiʻi, with additional access through remote services and online tools. These locations do not imply that in-person services are available throughout Washington or Hawaiʻi. Formats and availability vary.

Bainbridge Island, Washington

One of Lokahi Connect’s local roots. Contact us to ask what is currently available.

Maui, Hawaiʻi

The identified Hawaiʻi location for in-person work. This is not a statewide in-person service claim.

Remote and online

Online tools and possible remote formats can extend access beyond local in-person work.

Accountability includes listening

Lokahi Connect is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 33-3985311. Review our nondiscrimination commitments, share constructive feedback, or contact us with questions.

Share community feedback → Read the policy → Contact us →