Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 36, Number 7, 1 July 2019 — Untitled [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

In 2010, 1 eame to the Offīce of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) to create innovative research as its new Director. Through this emerging role, OHA worked to eompile information on the Strategic Plan and its six Strategic Priorities and ten Strategic Results. We gathered data that identified gaps and important issues, whieh informed our advocacy efforts and ensured our actions and initiatives were based on the best information available. OHA became rejuvenated with a new data-driven decision-making strategy that all divisions and programs contributed toward. Part of OHA's performance goals saw our day-to-day actions add substantial efforts to improve the lives and conditions of Native Hawaiians. By 2012, our team was ready to usher in a new era of leadership and a collective vision to surround us. Not just for eight years, but for generations to eome. My responsibility as its new Ka Pouhana was not to lead OHA's Strategic Plan through a typical corporate or agency mindset. That the approach to the Strategic Plan not be disjointed from the pulse of the entire entity and its vibrant creation story. OHA has always been about a system-wide, Pae 'Āina emcompassing, worldview that honors, respects and utilizes the brilliance of our ancestors and the ingenuity of our heritage today. It was then that I envisioned Kūkulu Hou: AVision to Reestablish and Rebuild theMana ofKānaka 'Ōiwi. Kūkulu Hou? What is that, and what did OHA need to kūkulu, you might ask? Simply, a good vision must have a solid foundation. In order to serve the Hawaiian people, it became paramount that the foundation be grounded in 'ike Hawai'i. The framework of Kūkulu Hou reimagines and reconstructs vital spaces where resources ean thrive onee again through a Hawaiian way, helping to ho'oulu lāhui. The vision and its framework articulated a future for OHA whieh is empowering to Native Hawaiian communities and one that strengthens Hawai'i as our homeland. In order to achieve our Strategic Priorities and Results, we focused on the roles of advocacy, research, asset management and community engagement to improve conditions for all Native Hawaiians through systemic change. My first act as Ka Pouhana saw the rearrangement of the Strategic Priorities. From 2010-2012, the top Strategic Result in the originaI approach was to Increase Family ineome (Ho'okahua Waiwai/Eeonomie Self-Sufficiency). Applying the vision of Kūkulu Hou then placed Mo'omeheu (Culture) at the top and moved Mauli Ola (Health), Ho'ona'auao (Education), and Ho'okahua Waiwai (Eeonomie Self-Sufficiency) to the bottom as an indication of basic, everyday needs our people experience in the 21st century. This allowed OHA's primary drivers — the tip of the 'ihe — to be Value History and Culture (Mo'omeheu/CuIture), Ea (Governanee), 'Āina (Land and Water) as our guides. A simple

change but a profound statement of who we are as a Hawaiian institution and our direction as a semiautonomous agency. Well-considered strategies like this led to positive outcomes and leveraged our impaeī by connecting pathways like heakh with culture, education with 'āina, and housing with governance considerations. Kūkulu Hou is not merely about OHA, however; it is about mana. Mana is the human spiritual force that is a core strength and authority for who we are as a Lāhui. It is a sacred and divine inheritance from akua to ali'i to descendants of the maka'āinana. OHA is a steward of that geneaoIogy. Mana encompasses the individual tasks performed during 2010-2018, the cultural norms guiding the institution, and looking toward what are our most important values. The fundamental tenets of mana and the practice of Kūkulu Hou are affirmations of our cultural beliefs and values alive inside OHA. We have enthusiastically served this vision by recognizing the resiliency of our people. There are numerous examples during the course of this Strategic Plan when OHA demonstrated its mana. Through its worIdclass advocacy efforts at the Legislature, original research and publications, expanded reach through technologieal platforms, and investment in community programs via grants, loans, and schoIarships. Integrating these Priorities and Results created the mueh needed energy to boost our performance in the years that followed. Beyond any single triangle or goal statement is where you will find our power to ho'omau (persevere), the capability to perform at our highest capacity of kūlia (excellence), and the mana of who we are as kānaka. Ka ho'okūlike a Iike i nā hōkū mālamalama, i nā ao mālamalama. To eome together and balance the guiding values and principles. The upcoming Office ofHawaiian Affairs' Strategic Plan: Lāhui Impact Report 2010-2018 is testament to what OHA does for our lāhui: provide resources to community programs; advocate for Native Hawaiians on a range of issues; and manage Iand and trust resources. By reporting back, you will see how we have made a difference in our beneficiaries' lives through the breadth of all we do and its interconnectedness. These significant results were gained through many community networks, business partnerships, advocacy channels, and trusted allies. Along with the entire OHA staff, we mahalo your work with us and will continue to demonstrate a firm commitment to being responsible stewards of our peopIe's trust. Together, we are the mana of the lāhui kānaka and mana is our Iegacy.

Kamana'opono Crabbe, P.h.D. CEO | KA POUHANA 2012-2019