Mary Mikahala Robinson Foster, who helped establish the Honpa Hongwanji Mission, was instrumental in supporting the development of Japanese Buddhism in Hawai'i.

Stanley Ann Dunham, mother of President Obama, was a pioneer of micro-lending, or the granting of small loans to those who are poor and have no collateral but who tend to be reliable borrowers and avid entrepreneurs.

And Georgia O'Keeffe, one of the most influential American modernist painters, created a series of Hawai'i paintings after an invitation by Dole Pineapple Corp. to create two pieces in exchange for a trip to the Islands.

The women are among those featured at the Distinctive Women in Hawaiian History Program.

Founder and coordinator Jamie Conway expects 500 event-goers this year.

"Our event has an unmistakable edge as a forum for under-examined histories. ... It shakes things up and questions the gender-exclusion present in many aspects of the recording and presenting of history in Hawai'i," Conway said.

Cultural practitioners and community history presenters will share the contributions of such women as Emma Metcalf Beckley Nakuina, Mary Louise Kekuewa and Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, using lectures, chants, traditional Hawaiian storytelling, dramatic performances and film.