Hawaiʻi Island’s Kahele elected chairman of Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees elected Hawaiʻi Island Trustee Kaialiʻi “Kai” Kahele to serve as board chairman for the next 4 years.

Trustees voted 8-1 in the 50-year-old Kahele’s favor Wednesday. He succeeds Carmen “Hulu” Lindsey, who had the post for the past 4 years.

The 9-member board oversee the Office of Hawaiian Affairs — a state agency that supports forward movement in education, health, housing and economic stability to improve the well-being of Native Hawaiians — by managing assets formerly held by the Hawaiian Kingdom, providing resources to Native Hawaiians and engaging with communities throughout the state.

“I am both humbled and honored that my fellow trustees have placed their trust and confidence in me to lead the board,” said Kahele in a press release. “I look forward to leading transparently and in collaboration with the board, staff, community and our beneficiaries.”

Kahele is from Miloliʻi in South Kona and a 1992 graduate from Hilo High School.

After attending Hawaiʻi Community College and University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, he earned a degree in education from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa while balancing life as a member of the Rainbow Warriors menʻs volleyball team.

Kahele earned a masterʻs degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College this summer.

He is a combat veteran, military and civilian pilot and commissioned officer in the Hawaiʻi Air National Guard, where he continues to serve as a lieutenant colonel with the 201st Air Mobility Operations Squadron at Hickam Air Force Base on Oʻahu.

Kahele was appointed in 2016 by then-Gov. David Ige to the District 1 seat in the Hawaiʻi Senate after the unexpected death of his father, state Sen. Gil Kahele.

During his state Senate tenure, he served as majority whip, majority floor leader and chairman of the committees on Higher Education and Water and Land.

Kahele was then elected in 2020 to represent the state’s 2nd Congressional District in Washington, D.C. He served one term in U.S. Congress and decided to run for governor in 2022, ultimately losing his bid in the Democratic primary.

Kahele lives in Hilo with his wife Maria and their daughters.

“This is an exciting time for the agency, and I look forward to working with [Chairman] Kahele and the entire board, addressing the challenges within our Hawaiian communities, as well as seizing innovative and transformational opportunities to better serve our beneficiaries,” said Office of Hawaiian Affairs Ka Pouhana (Chief Executive Officer) Stacy Kealohalani Ferreira.

The board selected At-Large Trustee Keoni Souza as vice chairman.

Board members who were newly elected and re-elected in the November general election took their oaths of office Wednesday, including Kahele as well as Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi Trustee Luana Alapa, Kauaʻi and Niʻihau Trustee Dan Ahuna and At-Large Trustee Keliʻi Akina.

“Together, we at [the Office of Hawaiian Affairs] will commit our efforts to improving the lives of our Native Hawaiian beneficiaries with the energy and passion our people deserve,” Kahele said.