 Think Tech Hawaii, civil engagement lives here. And welcome back to Talk Story with John Wahee. We got another show for you as we dig into our community and find interesting people who are doing wonderful things, or at least have the promise of doing wonderful things. Today we have as our guest, Kohio Lewis. Kohio is the CEO of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, which is better known as C-N-H-A. C-N-H-A. And you just took the job over, huh? Yeah, I'm sure. It's been about a month now. Well, welcome. Yeah, thanks for having me. Thank you for reaching out to the public out there. Now, first of all, what does C-N-H-A do? Good question. So the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, the mission is pretty broad. It's to support the development of Native Hawaiians, culturally, politically, economically. So culturally, politically, economically, so everything. So you're into, well, you're sort of a developer. You're into Hawaiian development. Hawaiian development. That's a good way to put it. I got it. So the C-N-H-A, how we execute that mission is in a number of ways. Number one is we help Native Hawaiians gain access to capital. So granting, lending. So we're actually a CDFI lender, which is a Native lender. So we target the most vulnerable population. If my wife is listening, she's going to be saying, I know Hawaiian who needs capital right here. All right, so you guys are in the financial service. We are. We execute programs as well. So we work closely with our Hawaiian trusts, our Hawaiian agencies. So that's like OHA, Kamoa. Yep, absolutely. Alo Liki? Yeah. We do very similar in work. They're like a sister agency in that we are always trying to identify opportunities to help advance Native Hawaiians. Another thing C-N-H-A does, which most people are familiar with, is they execute their annual Native Hawaiian convention. So this is where... We want to talk a lot about this, about your convention and how people can participate. But before we go there, tell us a little bit about yourself. So how does Kuhio Lewis become CEO of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement? I mean, where did it all begin? First of all, where were you born? Here in Honolulu. I was raised by my grandparents. Where? Like in Kakaako? In Nuanu area, above Nuanu. So I was born and raised in Nuanu. I attended my elementary, Kavanana Koa, and then McKinley High School. Oh, fantastic. Yeah, so a local boy, born and raised here, I have... So you're not one of those private school Kamehameha endowment types, right? No. No, you actually work for your job. That's right. Okay, go ahead. So life has taken interesting paths for me. I definitely didn't think that one day I'd be representing the Native Hawaiian organization. But it progressed that way. I was a single dad at a young age. I wasn't even 18. I had two kids. Wow. Didn't even graduate from high school and I was supposed to. Well, you're a lot more advanced than I was. I learned the hard way and it was through those challenges in life that I think I found my passion, my drive, which is to help others. And so I've been continuing that personal mission. So you went, you know, at some point you went to work for somebody, right? I ran for OHA trustee in 2010, based on that mission and passion that I had. And then I ended up working for OHA after the election as their youth coordinator. So my job was to organize the next generation of leaders to help provide them or discover opportunities for their aspiring leaders, right? Right. So that's where I started. And then I moved up the food chain at OHA at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. So I started my real career, I guess you would call, at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. I moved up to being the division manager for their community outreach program. So overseeing all of their neighbor islands. So division manager is like, right, I mean, it's one of the executive positions at the office. 22 staff, all the neighbor island offices came under my watch at the time. And I didn't know how that evolved, to be honest. I just was so focused on advancing community that things just evolved that way. But I have, I have been blessed, to be honest, I've been blessed. And now I have this new and exciting opportunity to continue that work. So this agency that you, you went from OHA to the CEO of the CNHA. Now, what, I mean, who, who, who, how long has this agency been in existence? I mean, how did it all start? CNHA was founded in 2001, August of 2001. There's actually five founders of CNHA. Yeah, let's go through. Rae Soon, yeah, Rae Soon was the managing director of something at the city in Congress, at least he used to be. He was one of the leaders. He was the deputy director at DHHL at the time. And Hawaiian Holdings. Correct. Then you have Harry Sprote, Hardy Sprote. I'm sorry, Hardy Sprote. Hardy Sprote, who did Papua Lolo Kahi. Which is a organization dedicated to health issues. That's right. For Native Hawai'i. And then you had, Mahalani went before it was Kamo'u Rae. And she was the head of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation. So these, I assume that these individuals, in addition to the individual selves, were sort of committing their organizations as well. Yeah, but there's two more. If I don't want to... No, I'm not going to let you forget them. Okay, okay, I'm going to get, so there's Lulani. Our tag is another one. Cool. Lulani. Okay, and tell us a little bit about her. Well, she's, I'm not sure her background. I believe it was, yeah, I'm not sure. I don't want to screw it up. But Lulani, our tag was one of them. And then the other was Melody McKenzie from the law school. No, Melody is in charge of the program for Native Hawaiian legal excellence. Yeah, she works with Koguliao at the Native Hawaiian Law School. And then Robin Danner was the founding CEO of CNHA. So, the five people got started and then they hired Robin, correct? Right. And the vision of these leaders in our community at the time was really to create an entity or an organization where Hawaiians could come together and have discussions that weren't being had. In fact, as I understand it at the time, and all of these leaders were in their respective Kuliano, they were oftentimes at odds with one another, you know. So, this organization was really formed to help Hawaiians and find, have discussions that were relevant and important to their advancement. Well, great. That's the birth of the ocean. So, it was individuals but also organizations that created this? Correct. Well, they were representing the organizations and how they saw it was, we need a place to have conversations so that we can talk collectively about how we move forward. So, those were the founding principles of CNHA and it's really grown tremendously. Well, the person I knew there in addition to Robin for some time was Michelle Calhoney. Yes. Michelle has had the, she's led the organization. She's done wonderful things over the last four or five years. I knew she had a background in banking and housing development. Both Robin and Michelle have some financial background. Robin, a banker, Michelle really, she was with Hawai'i community assets at one time and then she became the deputy director at the Department of Hawaiian Homelands. So, I'm very fortunate to be able to step into the shoes of such prominent Wahine, right? When I look down there, you look like you got big feet. So, hoping, I know you're going to do great. So, tell us a little bit about what do you think some of the issues are for Native Hawaiians in this day and age? Well, I think in some ways we need to revisit the creation of CNHA. Why was it created? We need to have conversations in our community about the direction that we collectively see us going. So, I want to revisit our original purpose. Which is a forum for getting people together and maybe united on some mission. I also think there's a niche in our community to develop our next generation of leaders. So, I want to focus on that as well. So, looking at programmatic, so I was thinking about maybe like a police academy or, you know, these types of academies where we can groom the next generation of leaders to you talk about a police academy or something like a piece. Something like a police academy. It's a Native Hawaiian police academy. So, it's before they get to the actual police academy, we teach them their soft skills, their hard skills, all of the, and we hook them up with mentors so that they can be successful in their roles. I think that's the best thing that we can do is prepare our next generation of leaders for their rightful place in all spectrums. So, this academy idea, which is fascinating, what you're talking about is something akin to an intensive curriculum of leadership training for Native Hawaiian young people. What about guys like myself, you know? We could use a little bit of leadership. Actually, let me put it this way. So, I mentioned the police academy, but there's multiple branches, right? So, those that want to get into politics or serving or public service, there will be an academy to support their interests as well. So, there will be an academy to train people how to be... Whatever they want to be, but there'll be five strategic academies as I envision it right now, and it's very premature because this is what it's floating around in my head, but this is the direction I want to pursue where we have academies where these upcoming leaders who are coming out of the charter schools, the high schools, have an opportunity to quickly learn the skills and traits of their respect, interest that they have, room them, hook them up with mentors, and put them in the workforce. So, this is like taking somebody... I mean, it seems like if you do an academy like this, you got at least two dimensions. I mean, there is, I'm assuming, because you're targeting Native Hawaiian. There's a cultural aspect to all of this. I mean, what Hawaiian leadership consists of and all that. Absolutely. But at the same time, you want people to succeed in, I guess, what we would, quotation marks, call the real world. So, you're going to also be teaching skills, I mean, real skills. Real hands-on skills. So, that may not be culturally based, but maybe necessary in today's culture. Right. So, broader culture. Native Hawaiians are hands-on learners, a lot of them, right? So, there's plenty of opportunities to go to college if you want to go to college, but what we're focused on is those leaders that want to get their hands in the sand and actually start turning dirt and do some work. So, this is interconnected with the academic portion of things. So, they can actually get experiences and be successful in their respective roles. Are you anticipating like, extern programs and things like that? Very likely that there'll be internship opportunities for these kids to actually be, whether it's the trade school with unions, or if it's the police academy riding alongside perhaps a police officer. So, they get hands-on experience. So, we're actively looking for mentors to help shepherd these young leaders. I'm too young to be a mentor. No way. You're a mentor mode. I want to be a student. You're making this program sound so exciting, you know. Let me give you a pitch, though. Well, a little pitch for the public policy. We call it public policy instead of political academy. Okay. And guys, if you're listening to this young people, look, this is the one job that you earned the right to decide public policy, which affects all of our lives, everybody's life. Hawaiian, the native Hawaiian, or non-native Hawaiian, that live in the state of Hawaii, maybe even broader. And the required skills are like, how good you can hold a sign? Right. I mean, where else? No, I'm serious. Where else? There's different ways to hold a sign. They are hard. No, really. You know, you've got to get your hands dirty, hold a sign, talk to people. I was at a meeting and the young people there were learning, trying to learn how to get involved in political life. And they asked me. They said, you know, are we going to school? What should I take up? Should I be a lawyer? And I thought, well, what you need to learn is network marketing. You know, five people, five deep, and you can get elected governor. That's true. You're seriously, I believe that. Yeah, so, you know, that's an interesting area, because our policy makers are so important to the, you know, to, they decide the laws that dictate all of our lives. So, and you, as the former governor, I would hope you'd be a part of our public policy academy. Well, you know, I would be delighted to help you in any which way. We're going to take a short break right now. And we'll be right back to talk to Cahill Lewis. And we're going to hear a little bit about this convention. Okay. And what it means for the new, what are you going to call them? Kamehameha Academy? No, can't do that, that name statement. So anyway, we'll come back and we'll talk about the academy. For more than 100 years, American Humane Association has been teaching kids to be kind to animals. Those in our homes, on the farms, on the silver screen, and wildlife conservation caring for the world's vanishing creatures. But we can't do it alone. Visit kindness100.org to find ways to teach kids how they can make a more caring, compassionate, and humane world for all of us. Well, welcome back to Talk Story with John Whitehead. If you want to call in folks, our number is 808-374-2014. That again is 808-374-2014. Send us a question, stomp the guests. That segment of this program is called Stomp Our Guests. Now, I'm only kidding, but if people do have a question for you, I hope they do call in. Cahill, this is so interesting. The Leadership Academy idea, you just told me the name. It's the Leadership Academy. You've got to show that. It's like the Ali Academy, or the Warrior Academy. What's that Palaan Ivan great song? I don't want to get caught up in that. Which one? Colander. Yeah, Palaan Ivan did the Makul, doesn't matter, but it was about the Hawaiian warriors. It's that kind of statement. By the way, it's for all men, women, any young person who wants to lead. So tell us about your convention. Well, the Native Hawaiian Convention really is that opportunity that I was talking to. The vision of the founders where Hawaiians can come together. CNAJ for the last 16 years has consecutively held this convention. It's been held at the Convention Center at the Sheraton. And this year, though, we're having it at the Prince Waikiki. So we expect. The Prince Waikiki, you guys went uptown. I mean, from the convention center to the Prince Waikiki. I mean, where are we going to have it next? The Kahala Hilton? Or what? Hopefully at our. I'd love to see Hawaiians going uptown. Hopefully at our Hawaiian Cultural Center. Once that's built. Oh, Hawaiian Cultural Center. Yeah, but I assume that the one reason why you have the Prince, instead of the convention center, is cost or something? It is. And because we have a Native Hawaiian as the managing director there at the Prince. So Hawaiians working together to accomplish great things. Wow, that's a wonderful story. That's a wonderful story. So that's so you've had this person helping you put the convention. Absolutely. So we've brought down the cost of convention so Pat, we can pass it on to our attendees that cost savings. But the Native Hawaiian convention is this year, it'll have a little something for everyone. Okay. So you'll have your policy stream where we can discuss actual issues or laws and policies that are impacting Hawaiians or could be changed to support Hawaiians advancement. So you have health caucus, education caucus, housing caucus, all discussing issues. Education, housing, health, there's homestead. Homestead. There's seven caucuses. There's next gen, there's even a next gen caucus. And that's for the next generation. Next generation can talk about their future. So we have all of these caucuses, which are policy caucuses, and they're focused on policies that support their respective interests. Right. So those policy makers will be in those sessions. What do they do? They try to achieve consensus? Yes. So you have like Papua Olokahi. You have the Native Hawaiian education council. You have all of these different organizations who do this work in their day-to-day coming together to discuss what laws collectively they can address or what policies we should be introducing. So CNHA is a strong voice on public policy and it's through our member organizations who bring forth ideas that we're able to accomplish that. Well, you also seem to be unifying people. So I'm a little bit of a political novice and it seems like when you unify people, you begin to develop a kind of strength and momentum. That's my goal. My goal is to bring people together. I mean, I know that we're not going to ever be able to all agree, but to the extent that we can, we need to have a conversation about where we want to go as Hawaiians and then we identify the best way forward. And, you know, the consensus should rule at the end of the day. And that's what I'm looking at is bringing people together, doing some consensus building and moving forward, Hawaiians, advancing Native Hawaiians. That's what I'm looking for. Well, I tell you what, you know, this idea of bringing people together in strength. What is the date of the convention? I think it was sometime October 8th. October 8th to the 10th. It's October 8th to the 10th. And so it's before the general election. It's right before the general election. And that is in part to be strategic, but it's also before the legislative session. So it's a chance for us to develop priorities, legislative priorities, and potentially introduce them as law. Well, you know, there is this, I don't know, this belief that some people have that I, you know, frankly, don't agree with, but they seem to think that Hawaiians will never agree. So we don't really have to pay too much attention to them. Well, that there'll always be some going right, some going left. And, you know, and the easiest way to ignore something is to say, well, why don't you guys agree and then come and see me? You know, so you're trying to get past some of that. This is one of those ways in which we can have conversation and then look at how we go forward. So it's consensus, but it's key. You got to have your community behind you if you're going to move policy. Well, that's what you did as an organizer. Yeah. So that's naturally my background is I've organized large events. I've organized rallies. I've organized marches. And I know that without your community and without a degree of consensus, it's very hard to move forward. So my goal at CNHA is to bring people together as I see it. Well, you know, I think people misjudge Hawaiians though, you know, a lot. But just because we, you know, we may not agree, at least initially, on some solutions or some way of going. It doesn't mean we don't care. It's a tremendous amount of passion that goes into these feelings. Yeah, absolutely. It's about Hawaiians are very passionate. And I think it's a good thing. I think we need to learn how to harness our energy and focus that energy so that we can have, make positive progress. Well, I just want to, and this is for myself. This is not for your, you know, for your organization or anything. But I just want to say people should not mistake the fact that we may be passionate about what we believe in for this unity. I mean, my dad used to talk to, you know, he says to say, you know what family is? Family is where we people can go and argue and talk. And everybody think it's noise. But don't threaten one member of our family because we'll all be there to make sure that you don't get away with the threat. So I think people need to understand that there is a core that the Native Hawaiian community believes in. And if it's threatened, the whole community will be affected and will stand up as one. I mean, I believe this. And I'm hoping CNHA can facilitate. Absolutely. The organization like this. Me too. And you know, there's lots of conversations that need to be have from the community lens, but also our trust leaders. And I'm talking about the very, the respective Aliitras, if we can find a way to come together, have conversations about our collective future, that's very powerful. So I think it's on all levels. So the Aliitras, maybe our listeners don't know who all of them are, but I'm assuming you're talking about Kamehameha schools, right? You're talking about Lili Okalani Trust. I'm saying Lunalilo. Lunalilo Home. Queens. Queens Hospital. People don't know them, but Queens Hospital is a trust. It's a Native Hawaiian Trust that was started by the King Kamehameha IV and his wife, Queen Emma. Queen Emma. Then that's why it's called the Queens Hospital. And what's the fifth one? I thought there was... Oh, well, there's OHA. Yeah, well, OHA and DHHL are state entities, but they have resources that support... But they also have trustee responsibility. Absolutely. And actually, that's a good point, Governor, because you were instrumental in the creation of OHA, and you, the vision should be... OHA needs to be more self-governed in other words. Yeah, sure. Move towards that. So having these conversations with OHA, with DHHL, with our Native Hawaiian Trust should be happening, and perhaps as the neutral party in this, CNHA can be the convener. Well, I hope that CNHA is a little bit more than a neutral party. I hope that you're a catalyst for this. And I knowing you, I personally, I think that you would do a very good job as being a catalyst. I mean, there are very few people who have your talent to talking to all people involved, whatever walks of life. And plus, you got trained at OHA. And if you can survive OHA, my goodness, this should be an easy, easy job. So tell me a little bit about your vision. Tell me a little bit about where you want to see everything be in 10 years from now. So I shared with you, ultimately, where I think there's value, and that's that Leadership Academy. But to get there, before we even get there, I plan to embark on a community strategic planning. So we're engaging stakeholders at different levels to discuss. And so that can be a part of the development of CNHA's strategic plan going forward. So we'll be launching a strategic plan for leaders, for community to come together and discuss what is CNHA's future? What is our vision going forward? Yeah, what is your role in this milieu of... Right. The other thing I didn't mention is that CNHA is actually a member-based organization. So we have over 130 native point organizations, businesses, and otherwise that fall under our umbrella. So working closely with those members. So the members... Well, this is a very important point. I want to emphasize it. So CNHA actually is made up of 130 member organizations. And it's growing. So since I've come on board, we've brought on about 25 new members under CNHA. Oh, wow. So we're growing. Are these all native Hawaiian organizations? Yes, they all are. Well, they're native Hawaiians, yes. So the cool thing about CNHA is they're actually... It's actually governed by the members. So the board of directors are made up of that membership. The board of directors decides who's the CEO who executes... How the board of directors select it? They have bylaws and they have a process in which they... But basically by election? Through election at convention, right? So around that time, they have a conversation about who's going to be a part of the board of directors. So it's a very democratic process. And it's a member-owned, really, if you will, organization. So the members are on the board, and the board controls the organization's direction. So, okay. Just to recap, you're going to have a convention in October. Now, is anyone invited or is it by invitation or how is it done? Everyone is invited to attend. We will be posting information on our website. HawaiianCouncil.org, you can... HawaiianCouncil.org. Yep. You go to that website, there'll be background on the convention, and we plan to put the registration process up shortly. We're just solidifying all the speakers and engagement. The other thing I want to tell you is, we talked a little bit about convention having this policy theme. There's also cultural activities, enrichment activities there. You can learn how to create Kahili. You can go on a hua kai with Lily Kala Kamelihiva. She's going to have a bus that takes her on Waikiki, talking about the birthing places of all of our... Ali. Yeah. So, because that was a summer area for our Ali. So, she's going to take a group on a hua kai, a field trip through Waikiki. There's all kind of activities or something for everyone. That's wonderful. Yeah. Well, I want to thank you so much for agreeing to join us. And it's not very often that we get to talk to somebody at the beginning of their tenure. And, you know, I want to wish you well. I know from what you've done in the past, I expect that you'll be a success with the council on Native Hawaiian advancement as well. So, thank you. Thanks. Cool. And everybody, here's your chance. Take part. Support the... I love the idea about the academies, by the way. Thank you. Thank you.