Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees will be “servant leaders at our people’s table,” said newly elected chairman Robert Lindsey at an investiture of board members Wednesday in Honolulu.
Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees will be “servant leaders at our people’s table,” said newly elected chairman Robert Lindsey at an investiture of board members Wednesday in Honolulu.
Lindsey, who has served on the Board of Trustees since April 2007, is the only Hawaii Island representative on the nine-member board.
OHA’s board is charged with setting OHA policy and managing the semi-autonomous state agency’s substantial trust for the benefit of OHA beneficiaries.
The trust includes more than 28,000 acres of land and $600 million in financial and land assets, according to OHA’s 2013 annual report.
Hawaii Island has the highest percentage of pure Hawaiians and residents reporting some Hawaiian blood in the state, according to the 2010 census. Some 8.5 percent of the island’s population is pure Hawaiian, compared to 5.9 percent statewide. In addition, 29.7 percent of residents on Hawaii Island say they have some Hawaiian blood, compared to 21.3 percent statewide.
More than 400 people attended the investiture at Central Union Church, a ceremony that was live-streamed on OHA’s website.
“I look forward to us working together to be responsive to the needs of all Native Hawaiians and the challenges of our organization,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey succeeds Colette Machado, the trustee for Native Hawaiians on Molokai and Lanai who led OHA’s Board of Trustees the past four years.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.