Chelsea was born and raised in Kaumana, Hilo, Hawaiʻi and obtained her undergraduate degree and teaching certificate from the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. She has always been passionate about creating educational environments for Native Hawaiian children to thrive. The first decade of Chelsea’s career was as a Hawai‘i DOE elementary school teacher in communities with a high percentage of Native Hawaiian students. She served as Kamehameha Schools Kapālama Elementary Curriculum Coordinator and facilitated teacher-generated curricula and assessments. Chelsea currently works in Kamehameha Schools Ho‘olako Like Department and supports 17 Hawaiian-focused Charter Schools define culturally relevant assessment systems that provide a counter narrative to the current assessment dialogue.