Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 2, 1 February 2012 — USHERING IN A NEW ERA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

USHERING IN A NEW ERA

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BY HAROLD NEDD

For new Office of Hawaiian Affairs CEO Kamana'o Crabbe, helping to improve the quality of life within the Native Hawaiian community is a deeply personal pursuit. As a child growing up in Mō'ili'ili on O'ahu, the 48-year-old Kamehameha Schools graduate could remember being able to count on two gifts every Christmas: a paek of underwear and socks. "We always used to laugh about that," said Crabbe, the second youngest of the seven children born to a Honolulu fire captain and a United Airlines cabin cleaner. "I lived through all of the adverse conditions in the Native Hawaiian community that we are trying to improve with OHA's strategic plan." Fast forward to today: a heightened focus on results from that strategic plan, a second round of community meetings on the proposed $200 million land settlement, the legislative session and key vacancies will make the first few months in the top job at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs feel more like a trial by fire than a honeymoon for Crabbe. Unlike his counterparts in the business world, where corporate CEOs have long had their "first 100 days," or that approximate time between a new job's starting line and Wall Street's first quarterly eamings report, Crabbe won't have that window of forgiveness. "He will be expected to take the reins at top speed," said OHA Chairperson Colette Machado. "We have that expectation of inhouse candidates." Crabbe was selected as CEO in a unanimous vote by the Board of Trustees on Jan. 19. He will begin in his official capacity onee a negotiated contract has been executed. He was selected from OHA's executive team, where he's been Research Director sinceNovember 2009, gathering evidence needed to make sound decisions that allow the organization to engage policymakers in the agency's

work, create public awareness and build community support. Meaning, he has gotten a jump start on ways to accelerate OHA's strategic plan aimed at making the kinds of positive changes in the Native Hawaiian community that will continue to benefit future generations. His tenure at OHA has also helped him get a running start on navigating the diverse personalities among the roughly 150 employees on the payroll of the $40 million organization. "He told me that he's thought long and hard about this new opportunity to serve OHA," Machado said. "He has also told me that he's ready to take the treacherous challenge. And I believe in his commitment to the Native Hawaiian community." Crabbe, who brings an air of easy-going confidence to the job, officially takes over as OHA's Chief Executive Officer in mid-February, succeeding Clyde W. Nāmu'o, who retired Dec. 30, 2011, after 10 years at the helm. "I realize that I won't have mueh breathing room," said Crabbe. "But early on, I will eome up with a few important but easy-to-reach goals that are proof of what this organization ean achieve." He said his most urgent task is to assemble his executive and management team as well as to begin developing a trusting relationship with the Board of Trustees and OHA employees, whom he is focused on engaging in his efforts to steer the organization in a desirable direction. Already, he has been assessing everyone up and down the management hierarchy at OHA, saying that his success will ultimately depend on their ability to effectively motivate and inspire their staff to do the best job they are capable of for the organization. "My philosophy is to make minimal adjustments to personnel," Crabbe said. "I don't want to jeopardize the overall stability of the organization. But there will be a restructuring of our organization to help re-establish its credibility with the Native Hawaiian community." Among other immediate steps

will be to visit OHA employees in eaeh Neighbor Island office for face-to-face meetings as part of a process to give all employees access to his time. Another high priority will be establishing a rapport with key lawmakers in the Hawai'i Legislature who ean help push Gov. Neil Abercrombie's $200 million land settlement proposal surrounding past-due revenues owed to OHA. This will be part of a broader effort to mobilize the Native Hawaiian community around this high-priority legislation for OHA, Crabbe said. "The spirit of our work this legislative session is to be relentlessly aggressive in advocating for public policies that empower Native Hawaiians and strengthen Hawai'i, starting with the settlement proposal," Crabbe said. He is equally focused on some longer-term challenges. For instance, he wants to strengthen OHA's ties to the organizations that make up the Ali'i Trusts. He sees an opportunity over the next three to six years for these Hawaiian-focused organizations to work together in a coordinated way to develop a master plan that could assist their collective efforts to enhanee the standard of living within the Hawaiian eommunity. At the same time, he will be looking to cultivate relationships with nonprofit organizations that are capable of playing a suitably significant role in helping OHA yield results from a strategic plan aimed at boosting educational achievement, ineome levels, heahh standards and housing stability in the Native Hawaiian community. "OHA can't do it all by itself," Crabbe said. "We need to involve other people who are good at what they do, support them with resources and monitor their progress. We have to step up our game as Hawaiians. The time to do this is now." In the near term, mueh is also riding on his plan to overhaul OHA's culture to become more internally collaborative and mueh savvier about community outreach. He is pushing for a culture at OHA that will sizzle with employees who inspire support and confidence through their thoughts and actions. To help do that, he will develop a new employee orientation program intended largely to nurture a sense of eommon commitment to shared goals by better connecting employees' goals to OHA's goals. "We will live by state rules, but we also will be a Hawaiian organization," Crabbe said. "We're going to strongly embrace our culture." In the Crabbe era at OHA, skills prized above all others are the ability to be respectful, truthful, forthright, courageous and humble. In short, the people who will connect best with him are those who know how to "preserve and perpetuate relationships," he said. "That ability is at the core of my personal style." His good humor, pragmatic approach and openness have also brought him acceptance among key people who have worked for him. They also say he rules by consensus and likes to surround himself with smart people who ean be trusted with room to plot their own courses. In addition, he prefers to hover in the background and let the limelight stream over his lieutenants. "He sets direction, gives clear instructions and allows managers the freedom to their jobs," said Mark Eshima, a manager who reports directly to Crabbe in the Research Di-

vision at OHA. "He's very inclusive. No matter who you are on the staff, everyone gets to give their point of view. But the hnal decision is going to be his. He's very open-minded and knows how to get the best out of people."

fn his ietter ot recommendation to OHAs Board of Trustees, Thomas K. Kaulukukui Jr., the Chairman and Managing Trustee of the Queen Lili'uokalani Trust,

described Crabbe this way: "His ealm, quiet

demeanor is nicely balanced by a focused, competitive spirit. He is generous and

unselfish by nature, finding satisfaction in servina others, his people, his Wrn

community and his nation." Since Crabbe's appointment was announced Jan. 19, his blackberry has been humming with congratulatory text messages, soaring to as many as 90 e-mails daily from

well-wishers, whieh was about hve times more than the norm.

Hawai'i County Mayor Billy Kenoi summed up his feelings about Crabbe's appointment this way in an e-mail: "You have always embodied the best of our Hawaiian culture as a leader: humble, intelligent, courageous, hardworking and compassionate. Call on me anvtime I ean help vou serve our

Hawaiian community, my brother." Noreen Mokuau, Dean of the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work at the University of Hawai'i, said in her e-mail: "I stand ready to support your leadership." Mary Frances Oneha, Chief Operating Officer at Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, added that Crabbe "has demonstrated leadership skills that will serv

OHA and its beneficiaries well. I look forward to your leadership and offer my support to the challenges ahead."

It was Crabbe's accomplishments as a licensed elinieal psychologist at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Heahh Center that brought him to the attention of OHA in late 2009. But it wasn't until he read OHA's strategic plan two months later that he decided to accept the research director's job. "It has taken two generations, or 110 years, for me to become the first person in my family to earn a doctorate degree," Crabbe

said. "I have lost a great-grandmother and grandmother in their early 40s to diabetes; lost my mother to heart disease; also, my father and two of my

brothers are diabetics. When I first read A| OHA's brochure on the strategic plan, I saw myself and my family. I could relate to the priorities of that strategic plan and remain personally committed to its goals." ■

About OHA's new £EO

Kamana'opono M. Crabbe, Ph.D.

" AGE 48 RESIDENCE Moanalua Valley EXPERIENCE Research Director OHA Director of Psychology Training Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center Program Administrator The lnstitute for Family Enrichment EDUCATION University of Hawai'i-Mānoa Ph.D. in psychology, elinieal (2002) M.A. in psychology, elinieal (1997) B.A. in psychology (1989) I NTERESTS surfing canoeing voyaging carving chanting

Photo: Arna Johnson