Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 37, Number 6, 1 June 2020 — Giving Native Hawaiian Businesses a Voice [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Giving Native Hawaiian Businesses a Voice

j EHO'OLOLI I KE KŪLANA > CHANGING 0UR REALITY i

By Joseph Lapilio EHo'ololi i ke Kūlana: Changing our Reality, is an initiative of the Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce (NHCC) from eaeh county in collaboration with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to give voice to our Native Hawaiian businesses, entrepreneurs and professionals. We have been surveying businesses to identify need and to connect those businesses to accurate information and resources. We are working closely with OHA to advocate for Native Hawaiian businesses at the legislative and executive levels to ensure that our needs are heard and that we continue to look at building a strong eeonomie reality for Native Hawaiian business well into the future. This COVID-19 experience has given us the opportunity to think about what a thriving, uniquely Native Hawaiian financial ecosystem looks like. We want to hear how Native Hawaiian businesses have pivoted, adapted and innovated to thrive during these difficult times. Help us share your business with Hawai'i.

There are two ways to share your story. The first way is to record a video on your smart device that answers some questions we have for you around the topic of thriving during COVID-19. We will work with you to edit and elean up the video before posting itthrough our social media platforms and the platforms of our partners. You ean also submit your story in print form to be included as part of this monthly eolumn in Ka Wai Ola. For more information about sharing your story, please contact Ian Custino at icustino@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you and working together toward a better business future for Hawai'i. Please eonīinue to eheek our website - nativehawaiianchamberofcommerce.org - for more information. If you would like to become a member and receive our email updates, please complete an application, available on our website. ■ Joseph Lapilio is tlie President of the Native Hawaiian Chamber ofCommerce. He is also the President and CE0 oftlie Wai'anae Eeonomie Development Council, an emerging Native American Community DeveIopment Financial Institution on the Wai 'anae Coast. Joseph is a community and organizational development consultant and has worked in the field for more than forty years. He received his BA in Community Planning and Developmentfrom Antioch University and a Master's in puhlie administration from the University ofHawaPi at Mānoa.