Dedication ceremonies are underway in Chicago for the Obama Presidential Center, which opens its doors to the first wave of ticketholders on Friday, June 19th.
A recording of the livestreamed Obama Presidential Center Grand Opening Ceremony, provided courtesy of The Obama Foundation, can be found here.
HPR has been presenting special coverage on the center, hearing from those who had a firsthand experience witnessing its unveiling.
Among those who were able to preview the exhibit were fellows of the Obama Foundation's Leaders Asia-Pacific program, which began in 2018. A number of people with Hawaiʻi ties have been recipients of this title, and two of them shared their thoughts with HPR.
Kepa Barrett is a Native Hawaiian educator at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama, and Sheila Sarhangi is a Hawaiʻi based author and conservationist with roots in Iran. The two were selected for the Asia-Pacific Leaders program in 2025-2026 and 2024-2025 respectively.
Both Barrett and Sarhangi previewed the Obama Presidential Center before its official opening, and they shared their impressions and experience of the center in Chicago.
Interview Highlights
On their initial impressions of the Obama Center
SHEILA SARHANGI: I felt very energized when I left. I have a renewed sense of hope, and I felt very inspired. I think that stems from that we're in a moment of time where people in high up positions want to shine a light on our differences, and they want to spark chaos and unravel the good work that was really based on values and a lot of community-driven work. And the presidential center gave me this renewed hope and energy because it was just this moment to pause and reflect on what America actually stands for; that we're a nation of ordinary people who dare to dream. I love how he says that, right? That our democracy requires us to uphold its principles and to work together towards common goals, that even though we have different origins or skin colors, that we have similar hopes.
KEPA BARRETT: One of the big things that stood out to me were the fact that all of the stories were very personal to both Barack and Michelle Obama, and yet it also was inclusive, if that made sense. A lot of times when people share their personal stories, we don't necessarily see ourselves in those stories. Especially in today's world, where there are leaders, celebrities, people who have a lot of means that share their personal stories, but maybe every day people like us can't relate to them necessarily. What I appreciated about the Obama Center is that you could see yourself in that center, whether you are from the middle of the Pacific Ocean, like I am, or I could imagine if you were in the middle of Manhattan, there were stories there and aspects of the Obama years that relate to all of us.
On Barack Obama’s roots in Hawaiʻi
BARRETT: There was actually this one essay that he had written back in his grade school age where he actually drew a picture and wrote an essay about King Kamehameha I. And you know, Hawaiʻi has a long history of civic leaders, and I think that there's definitely a legacy in the air, the water, and our ʻāina here in Hawaiʻi that has definitely informed the way that President Obama has moved forward in his own presidency and as a leader of leaders in the free world. … The second thing was actually his relationship with Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng, his younger sister. I've had the privilege of working alongside Maya as a previous Obama fellow in the 25-26 cohort, and the relationship that they have, even though neither of them are Kānaka Maoli by blood, they understand aloha from a very deep sense of their proximity to our culture in Hawaiʻi.
On the center’s ties to Hawaiʻi and beyond
BARRETT: I think that the Obama Presidential Center is sort of like that hale hālāwai, if you will, that meeting house that people from all over the world can come, can learn, can take in ideas, connect with the people that were next to them. It's a great area to even just sit next to a stranger and share an experience of, ‘Wow, this is this is something that we've had before, it's something that we know is possible again,’ and not to necessarily despair in any sort of way what the current events might look like. Because again, the long arc of change is long and uneven for a reason. But what I believe is that we have a lot to look forward to in our planet, because that's a decision that I've personally made, and if enough people make that decision personally, then that's where movements happen.
SARHANGI: It really made me reflect on my own journey — that I'm a child of immigrants. My parents are from Iran, and the year that I was born was when the overthrow in Iran happened, and my parents had always intended for all of us to go back, and that unfortunately never happened. … I watched my parents assimilate, like many people were doing in the 1980s, and it gave me this sense of agency to create the world that we want to live in, that you have to fight for the world that you want around you, and I think that's what brought me to this work. And it was beautiful to see the origins of President Obama and Michelle Obama, where they came from, and their family, and their origin stories, and even on, you know, their campaign trail.
For more coverage of the Obama Presidential Center, click here.
This story aired on The Conversation on June 18, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
