Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 6, 1 June 2022 — A Look Back [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A Look Back

V LEO 'ELELE V_ ^ TRUSTEE MESSAGES *

My first term as an OHA Trustee has been a busy one. In 2019, 1 brought the idea of a new governance model to then Board Chair Colette Machado for her consideration. Forming a Permitted Interaction Group (PIG) to investigate this possibility, Trustees Machado, Robert Lindsey,

and Hulu Lindsey worked together under my leadership to accomplish several groundbreaking things. First, we looked at the fact that OHA was actually two different entities and needed to be treated as such. Under a new set of Lāhui Level policies as an overarching umbrella, we used a pyramid approach to map out the new governance model. Ihe Lāhui Level policies include the board's bylaws, whieh we identified needed updating. Ihey had not been updated in 13 years. Under the bylaws, governance is now spit in two, flowing down the pyramid. One half being OHA, the government agency as formed under the 1978 constitutional convention. Ihe other half is the Native Hawaiian Trust whieh includes its $480 million portfolio and now its $291 million in land assets becoming the new endowment model. While this new model was adopted, new policies needed to be drafted and approved to complete the process. Onee the work for the first PIG had been completed, I was onee again selected to be the chair of a new PIG to update the bylaws. Over the next six months myself, Trustees Machado, Robert Lindsey, and Hulu Lindsey edited and updated the bylaws. In February 2020, they were unanimously approved. Ihe investment policy requires Trustees to attend a minimum of two hnaneial trainings a year so that they ean be properly educated on managing OHA's $480 million portfolio. Over the last four years I have attended 14, not including the educational presentations to Trustees

during committee meetings conducted by our portfolio managers per the Resource Management Committee. Ihe biggest impact to my process and ideas on how to better manage the portfolio and how to tie OHA's vast land holdings into the portfolio eame from attending the Commonfund Institute held eaeh year at the Yale University School of Management. Ihis helped me see that, as the 13th largest land holder

in the state, OHA should be leveraging those holdings against the Native Hawaiian Trust portfolio to allow OHA to not spend money on hedge funds as downside protection against the market. Not only will this save OHA millions eaeh year in fees, but it will also allow for greater gains to the overall portfolio. If OHA had an endowment model in plaee since the inception of the Native Hawaiian Trust, there is no doubt in my mind the Native Hawaiian Trust would be beyond the billion-dollar mark. During the pandemic shutdown I began the conversation with both the governor's and lieutenant governor's ofīices and key legislators to release to OHA the $31 million in the Carry Forward Trust Holding Account (CFTHA) to help Native Hawaiians with COVID-19 relief. While I was unsuccessful during the shutdown, OHA is finally receiving those funds through new legislation passed a few weeks ago. During the shutdown, OHA was able to acquire two major land parcels adjacent to Nā Lama Kukui. Ihis is something I have been working on since 2019. With the help of Chief Operating Ofīicer Casey Brown and Land Director Kalani Fronda, this Transit Oriented Development land acquisition has the potential to begin to address the critical housing needs of Native Hawaiians. Ihese are just a few accomplishments. Ihere have been countless meetings with beneficiaries o address their concerns and needs. With the help of my fellow Trustees, let's make this list grow and expand. ■

Brendon Kalei'āina Lee Trustee, At-large