Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 1, 1 January 2015 — Hauʻoli Makahiki Hou! [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hauʻoli Makahiki Hou!

As the New Year begins, we all set goals, or resolutions, for 2015. Do you want to lose weight? Do you want to get a college degree? Do keiki want to do better in school? Do parents want hnaneial literacy help to better provide for their 'ohana or to move into stable housing? If you have enrolled in a program to do any of the above, OHA may have helped. Yes, we are improving your quality of life. Our strategic results will tell you that Native Hawaiian students, as of the 2012-2013 school year, had a 64 percent proficiency in reading and a 49 percent proficiency in math. Those numbers might sound meager to you until you consider this: It is a 16 percent increase in the students who performed at a high rate of proficiency in reading and a whopping 53 percent increase for students in math. Our dedicated teachers in the Department of Education deserve a standing ovation for helping Native Hawaiians reach new levels of success. But behind the scenes, away from the spotlight, OHA has been helping as well. Our partners made sure almost 650 students got help to improve their test scores. Onee Native Hawaiian students are college bound, we give more than a half-million dollars a year for scholarships. Studies have shown that those with a college degree will make about a million dollars more, over their lifetime, than those with only a high school diploma.

We've fought to successfully restore water to Central Maui streams, supported Hawaiians asserting their traditional rights, provided eeonomie stimulus funds for Native Hawaiian businesses through our Mālama Loans, and our partners have given dozens of Native Hawaiians a step up in their quest to gain housing in Hawai'i. But we want to do more. Every dollar we spend in grants stays in Hawai'i and grows in ways that boosts the economy for everyone. We provide a social-service safety net that is designed to benefit Hawaiians - but in reality, everyone benefits when we uplift our people. You've undoubtedly heard of rifts within OHA from the trustee

level on down. But let me assure you - though we have many political pressures, we are all working for our beneficiaries. I've eome to know the staff at OHA, and I know they have

the best interests of our beneficiaries at heart. They work every day to improve the lives of Native Hawaiians. That's why I'm proud to be Ka Pouhana at OHA and am confident we will heeome a thriving Hawaiian Nation. 'O au iho nō me ke aloha a me ka 'oia'i'o, Kamana'opono M. Crabbe, Ph.D. Ka Pouhana/Chief Executive 0fficer

MEASURING I M P R 0 V E M E N TS IN THE LIVES OF HAWAI I ANS

'ŌLELO A KA LUNA HO'OKELE MESSAGE FROM THE CEO