Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 8, 1 ʻAukake 2023 — Changing of the Guard at OHA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Changing of the Guard at OHA

In this month's article I want to mahalo former CEO Sylvia Hussey and weleome our new Interim CEO Colin Kippen. Sylvia eame to OHA from the Native Hawaiian Education Council. Before that she worked at Kamehameha Schools for over a decade. She was born and raised in Kohala. Her family lived in Niuli'i near the Pololū lookout. She gradu-

ated from Kohala High School and later obtained a bachelor's in accounting from BYU-Hawai'i and masters and doctoral degrees from UH-Mānoa College of Education. She eame to OHA as a CPA (certified publie accountant) with significant experienee. She resigned last month. Sylvia started at OHA in November 2018 as the chief operating officer and interim chief advocate. In July 2019 she was named interim CEO for OHA and in December 2019 she was appointed our permanent CEO. Sylvia is one of the few executive OHA employees who did not leave their job at OHA following the three damning audits undertaken by the state, CLA and Plante Moran. These audits flagged numerous transactions for fraud, waste and abuse. The last audit by Plante Moran was difficult because records were missing, and emails had to be tracked. Sylvia supported corporate counsel who worked with Plante Moran on the details, facilitated a full briefing for the Board, and supported the Board's decision to forward the data to federal investigators and hold a press conferenee for our beneficiaries. I am thankful to Sylvia for her tireless service and dedication to our people and community. Her approach was to work with our Board to align policy, procedure and practice. She facilitated the development of OHA's 2020-2035 strategic plan whieh incorporates the strategic foundations of 'ohana, mo'omeheu and 'āina and continuing strategic directions of education, health, housing and eeonomie stability. She oversaw OHA's

COVID-19 effort, whieh worked to facilitate beneficiary and community supports including meals, emergency aid and grants. Sylvia helped OHA reduce overhead costs and increase beneficiary and community investments and services. Mahalo. Good job, Sylvia. Thank you so mueh for your years of service. I will miss you at OHA. I also want to weleome Col-

in Kippen, our new interim CEO, back to OHA. Colin was born and raised in Hawai'i, received his BA in political scienee and obtained his masters in urban and regional planning and a law degree from Iowa University. He has served as a member of the President's Commission on Scholars under the Ohama administration and as a member of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Review Committee under the Bush administration. He is a longstanding member of the Prince Kūhiō Hawaiian Civic Club. Colin served as Dan Inouye's staff counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and served as the Executive Director of both the National Indian Education Association and the Native Hawaiian Education Council. From 2012-2015 Colin was the Hawai'i State Homeless Coordinator and Chair of the Hawai'i Interagency Council on Homelessness. Colin has also worked for the Hawai'i State Senate and the Honolulu City Council. He was a trial attorney and the chief judge for a Native American tribe in the Seattle area before returning home to Hawai'i. Colin has previously worked for OHA as the deputy administrator in charge of advocating for Hawaiian rights and most recently as the Board of Trustees' chief of staff. It's been my great good fortune to work with Hawaiians like Sylvia Hussey and Colin Kippen. They are dedicated, talented and want to uplift our people. If this interests you, eheek out the OHA web site. We have many vacancies to fill. Aloha, Mililani ■

Mililani B. Trask VICE CHAIR Trustee, Hawai'i lsland