Dan Ahuna

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Kauaʻi Candidate

Photo: Dan Ahuna

  • Age | 56
  • Occupation | OHA Trustee, Kauaʻi and Niʻihau
  • Where did you grow up | Papakōlea, Oʻahu
  • Schooling | University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
  • Current residence | Kapaʻa, Kauaʻi
  • Website | n/a


Question 1Question 2Question 3Question 4Question 5Question 6
What is your understanding regarding the intent and purpose of Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes Chapters 10 and 10H and how would you, as a trustee, support these state mandates?
Wai and iwi kūpuna are current Board of Trustee priorities. Identify key opportunities OHA can pursue to make a positive impact in addressing those priorities.
If elected, how do you plan to collaborate with other governmental and non-governmental organizations to advance OHA’s mission?
Fiduciary responsibility is an important trustee kuleana. What experience do you have with policy and strategic direction setting?
What strategies should OHA employ to address any potential conflicts of interest (internal or external), maintain accountability with its beneficiaries, and ensure operational transparency?
How do you envision the role of OHA evolving in the next five to ten years?
  1. Per Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes ß 10-1, the purpose of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is the betterment of conditions for the Native Hawaiian people. To accomplish this kuleana, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs must get behind our beneficiaries to support them as much as possible, especially when the state steps in to limit or curtail their rights. As a Trustee now, I actively engage with our community, create space for them to be heard, advocate on their behalf to ensure that their needs are being met, and implement strategies that mitigate any harm in furtherance of their self-determination.
  2. As a Trustee, I have a fiduciary obligation to our beneficiaries, the Native Hawaiian people. It’s imperative to recognize, however, that the betterment of the Native Hawaiian people is inextricably tied to the protection of wai and iwi kūpuna. To uphold my fiduciary obligations to our beneficiaries, therefore, is to do whatever I can as a Trustee to protect wai and iwi kūpuna. OHA, as a semi-autonomous state entity, can facilitate grant opportunities for practitioners and scholars in wai and iwi kūpuna. OHA must activate our advocacy team to lead meetings, trainings, and burial council nominations in furtherance of our kuleana. We should be physically and spiritually present for our community at the legislature, gatherings, and in ceremony to honor and ʻauamo our kuleana as kānaka at multiple levels and in multiple spaces. I am truly humbled to continue to engage in these key opportunities, kūkākūkā with community leaders and ʻohana, and better kākoʻo our lāhui.
  3. The key to collaboration is each party understanding their role and responsibility. Our role as Trustees is to uphold our fiduciary obligations to our beneficiaries to ensure that the state is upholding their fiduciary obligations to our people. I will continue to maintain being accessible to contact, meet, or be a resource to offer a space for strategy and resolution prioritizing our Native Hawaiian beneficiaries.
  4. I have been a Trustee for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs since 2012. While on the Board of Trustees, I have served as the Vice Chair of the Board, Chair of the Resource Management Committee, Vice Chair of the Beneficiary Advocacy and Empowerment Committee, and Interim Chair of the Board. In such capacities, I have been integral in the appropriation of funds for the victims of the Lahaina fire, assisted our Hawaiian-focused charter schools in obtaining grant monies, sat as Chair of the Maunakea Ad hoc Committee, engaged with Te Papa Museum in Aotearoa to assist in returning Kalaniopuʻu’s mahiole and ʻahuʻula, held a key role to facilitate the first Community Based Subsistence Fishing Area in the state of Hawaiʻi, and more. I will continue to work tirelessly to assist community advocates and lāhui kānaka to the best of my abilities.
  5. The Board of Trustees must maintain oversight, and actively engage with our beneficiaries to ensure our people are being heard, valued, and assisted. To accomplish this, OHA must consistently engage with our community, advocate relentlessly, and employ multi-faceted approaches to communication on multiple platforms (i.e., mainstream and social media, community organizing, neighborhood/county/state/federal).
  6. The evolution of OHA is predicated upon the evolving needs of our lāhui. As the purpose of OHA is the betterment of Native Hawaiians, OHA must evolve in alignment with our people’s needs to ensure that their needs are being met. To align with our people’s needs, we must hold steadfast in our advocacy efforts, implement the BOT-approved strategic plan “Mana i Mauli Ola,” grow the Native Hawaiian Trust Fund with the purpose of intergenerational sustainability, and normalize prioritizing the wellbeing of Native Hawaiians above all else. What’s good for lāhui kānaka is good for Hawaiʻi. E ulu, e ola!

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