Vaughn Vasconcellos formed Alaka‘ina Foundation in 2004 and has been its president since its inception. In addition to his leadership role at the Foundation, Vaughn has had a distinguished career as business executive and entrepreneur. He founded Akimeka, LLC, a fast-growing information technology services company and a Native Hawaiian-owned federal contractor, in 1997. He currently serves as its president and CEO. In 2009, he was named second runner up for the Small Business Administration (SBA) National Small Business Person of the Year. He had previously been selected as the SBA Small Business Person of the Year for Hawaii. Vaughn has won several other awards including SBA Entrepreneur of the Year for the State of Hawai‘i and recognition in Hawaii’s Best-In-Business Annual Awards sponsored by Pacific Business News. Akimeka has also been selected one of the top ten “Best-Places-To-Work” in Hawai‘i s by Hawai‘i Business Magazine.

With a parallel community mission, Vaughn is committed to assisting the rural communities in Hawai‘i. Akimeka has donated desktop equipment, software, and network services to Hawaiian Homestead Technologies, a technology company on Kaua’i and O’ahu with centers on homestead lands. Their mission is to train and employ Native Hawaiians to execute a federal digitization project. Akimeka has also partnered with the Office of Naval Research in Hawai‘i to promote a mobile technology platform to encourage interest in science and technology for K-12 public school students. This program has evolved into the Digital Bus project, which is a major initiative of the Alaka‘ina Foundation.

Before founding Akimeka, Vaughn was an independent consultant and held various positions in marketing, sales, and consulting with Unisys Corporation. Prior to beginning his business career, he served as a major in the United States Army. Vaughn attended the Kamehameha Schools, and holds a bachelor of science in engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an executive master of business administration in strategy from Northeastern University. He currently serves as a director on the O'ahu Workforce Investment Board (OWIB), Sandwich Island Communications, Inc., and Native Hawaiian Organizations Association (NHOA). Vaughn also serves on the advisory board for the Hogan Entrepreneurs Program at Chaminade University. He is a member of the Hawai‘i Chamber of Commerce and the Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce.