Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 1, 1 January 2022 — Towards Inclusive Funding PrioritySetting for Native Hawaiian Education [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Towards Inclusive Funding PrioritySetting for Native Hawaiian Education

V 'AHA HO'ONA'AUAO 'OIWI HAWAI'I V ^ NATIVE HAWAIIAN EDUCATION COUNCIL "

by Elena Farden C/ — ~T" othing about us, without us," is V a powerful phrase shared by Sen. Brian Schatz at his Native Hawai- ^ ian education listening session earlier this year. It reflects the perspective that federal funding should be led by those who will be most impacted: the community. In education, priority-setting for funding ean be dominated by funders and government entities with little or no community seats at the decision-making table. We need more seats, or we need build a better, more inclusive table. One way the Native Hawaiian Education Couneil (NHEC) has been pushing this seat-at-the-table issue is through our annual reports. At the end of eaeh calendar year, NHEC submits an annual report to the U.S. Department of Education (USDOEd) that funds the Native Hawaiian Education program. This is not a typical report. This is a voice for the table. While our annual report does highlight our major accomplishments in the past year and helps inspire a shared vision for our work in education, our main statutory responsibility is to provide priority recommendations to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education as outlined in the Native Hawaiian Education Act, Sec. 6204(d)(6). Our priority recommendations for funding are developed in engagement with you, our eommunity. NHEC s community consultation process meets communities where they are at to listen, learn, and lean in to understand how students, families, and teachers are being impacted. What types of programs are rising to the needs of community? What areas could use more support and resources? What are some of the challenges and concerns that require our immediate attention? What issues

should be added to our radar for monitoring? Like a woven 'ie'ie basket, the collective voice of the community is gathered and carried forward in our priority recommendations. This year, we partnered with 'A'ali'i Allianee to engage 118 community members across the pae aina. Our 2021 annual report is in its final stage of completion, but highlights to share include priority funding recommendations for culture-based and 'āina-based programs, as well as mental heahh and well-being programming and resources. The final report will be provided to the U.S. Department of Education before December 31. Digital versions of our report will also be made available to the eommunity on our website by Spring 2022. You ean watch our 2021 wrap up of our eommunity consultation process and findings on our website or eheek out our previous annual reports at nhec.org. ■ MAP OF CONSULTATION PARTICI PANTS BY ZIP CODE CGRAYAREAS INDICATE NO PARTICI PANT DATA)

Elena Farden serves as the executive directorfor the Native Hawaiian Education Council, established in 1994 under the Native Hawaiian Education Act, with responsibility for coordinating, assessing, recommending and reporting on the effectiveness of educational programs for Native Hawaiians and improvements that may be made to existing programs, policies, and procedures to improve the educational attainment ofNative Hawaiians. Elena is a first-gen-eration college graduate with a BS in telecommunications from Pepperdine University, an MBAfrom Chaminade University and is now in her first year of a doctorate program.