Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 36, Number 1, 1 January 2019 — MESSAGES FROM THE CEO/KA POUHANA & BOARD OF TRUSTEES CHAIR [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MESSAGES FROM THE CEO/KA POUHANA & BOARD OF TRUSTEES CHAIR

Five years ago, Doug and Anuhea Josue and their two young keiki had no plaee to go. They ended up living in a transitional shelter in Wai'anae. Their path to the shelter, however, didn't include the stereotypical reasons we think lead people to homelessness. There were no drugs. There was no mental illness. In fact, theJosues are a hardworking, determined, loving 'ohana. But the reality for Native Hawaiians is that it's a real struggle to survive in our one hōnau, where the cost of living in Hawai'i is one of the highest in the nation. Lueki ly, the Josues were able to hook up with the non-profit organization Hawaiian Community Assets, whieh receives OHA housing grant funds.

HCA taught the Josues better spending and saving habits. Soon the Josues were out of the shelter and into a rental. With continued help from HCA, the Josues were able to purchase a single-family home in Hilo in early 2018. The Josues' journey from homelessness to homeownership is the reason why OHA was created: to steer funds reserved for Native Hawaiians to programs that best serve our beneficiaries. This fiscal year, OHA provided more than $9 million in mueh needed funds provided to the Native Hawaiian community. While OHA is proud of the impact our funding has had on the lives of our people, we know there's always room for improvement. This year, the state auditor released two reports that pointed out ways we ean enhanee the internal processes we use to disburse funds into our community. Like any organization striving for excellence, we welcomed the guidance. Since the release of the audits, OHA has taken a number of actions to address recommendations raised in the reports. Within weeks of the release of the first report, the OHA Board of Trustees took significant action by approving a moratorium on the use of our trustee allowances, fiscal reserve and CEO sponsorships until amendments to these programs are adopted. Additionally, OHA trustees and staff underwent state ethics code and fiduciary duty training. Trustees also approved an overhaul of our Kūlia Grants Program, making it a competitive pilot program for projects seeking smaller funding amounts. Among other uses, Kūlia grants ean be put toward capacity building and capital improvement. A board ad hoe committee also spent several months reviewing and re-writing our trustee allowanee program. We've already consulted with the ethics commission on a draft and the board is considering proposed amendments. The auditor's second report noted that OHA "made significant efforts" to implement the 2013 audit recommendations, by fully or partially implementing ◦ 1 1 but one of the 23 previous recommendations. OHA looks forward to approaching the current audit recommendations in the same manner and with the same effort we addressed the 2013 audit. We understand that it's not enough to disburse funds into our community - it's equally important for us to make sure that our community and the public believes, as we do, that our funding is being distributed to the programs and organizations that best meet the tremendous needs of our community. Our broad mandate and the increasing demands of our community require constant progress and improvement in our efficiency, transparency and accountability. Eaeh and every person at OHA, from our board to our staff, is fully committed to bettering the agency for our lōhui.

Colette Y. Machado CHAIR | TRUSTEE, MOLOKA'I & LĀNA'I