News Release from the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement

The 11th Annual Native Hawaiian Convention, organized for Hawaiian leaders, community and cultural practitioners, business executives, trust land experts, sovereignty proponents, policy makers and government officials is set for October 2nd, 3rd and 4th at the Hawai‘i Convention Center in Honolulu.

Special to this year's convention is the full participation of National foundations and philanthropists, and officials from President Obama's White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). A dozen representatives from the Ford Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, the Gates Foundation and others, will make the long trek to Hawaii to attend two days of site visits coordinated on Hawaii Island and Oahu. They will then spend a full day at our Pacific Island Philanthropy Forum with literally hundreds of community and cultural leaders at the convention center.

The opportunity to engage and witness more directly the innovations of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders is extraordinary. Whether it’s attending the art gallery and reception put on by talented Native artists, or being briefed by leaders from ‘Aha Pūnana Leo preschools, or Homestead Associations working on family farming projects -- the impact of creating stronger relationships is paramount.

We received word that the Department of Interior, Assistant Secretary of Insular Affairs, Anthony Babauta, is sending a delegation of community and policy leaders from American Samoa, Guam and Micronesia. As a part of the Pacific Island family, our kuleana as Native leaders goes well beyond the shores of Hawaii, and we are grateful for the opportunity to welcome others from the Pacific Region.

The Annual Native Hawaiian Convention has become a major beacon of sharing, of lifting up what works in Hawaii and the Pacific, and indeed, continues to be a place where Native leaders from Alaska and Indian Country on the continent share their stories and strategies for all Native peoples.

We have representatives attending from as far away as the Seminole Tribe in Florida as well as leaders from Alaska, Oklahoma, and Washington D.C.; all with a heart and understanding that as Native leaders, our unity and policy sharing matters.

The convention is for everyone, it is about those in our communities that work throughout the year to make Hawaii and the Pacific the amazing part of the world that it is. We do this work for our people, for our culture, and for the organizations that malama all that is Hawaii.

The strategic organizers of the 11th Annual Native Hawaiian Convention include the Hawaiian Way Fund, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the White House Initiative on AAPI. We send a special mahalo to Mrs. Irene Inouye, who believed in our goal of strengthening more direct relationships between Hawaiian communities and national philanthropic institutions.