Office Of Hawaiian Affairs CEO Crabbe To Leave Post
After more than seven years on the job, his resignation takes effect June 30.
Kamana鈥榦pono Crabbe, the CEO of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, announced Wednesday that he will step down at the end of June.
Crabbe made his announcement at an OHA Board of Trustees meeting in Honolulu.
In a statement, Crabbe said, “I am incredibly proud of my accomplishments at OHA, from returning the mana of Kalani艒pu鈥榰鈥檚 驶ahu鈥榰la and mahiole to Hawai鈥榠; to the naming of OHA as a co-trustee of Papah膩naumoku膩kea; to elevating OHA as a repository of Native Hawaiian knowledge, data and research through our online databases and research reports. It has been a great voyage and I enjoyed every minute of sailing with all of you.”
He continued: “As Ka Pouhana, I ask the OHA staff to k奴like, e alu mai, a 鈥榦nipa鈥榓 膿: to stand beside one another as a source of strength and pride, to cooperatively work together as a true 鈥榦hana should, and to remain steadfast despite the winds of change, remain forever resilient and staunch for each other, in spite of each other.”
OHA Chair Colette Machado said in a statement, “I want to take this opportunity to extend a warm and heart-felt mahalo to Dr. Kamana鈥榦pono Crabbe for his leadership and commitment to serving our people and the mission of the agency since becoming the Chief Executive Officer of OHA in 2012. During his tenure, he has had many notable achievements, including further instilling Hawaiian culture into the operations of the office, and strengthening OHA鈥檚 relationships with the community and our partner organizations, while providing steady guidance to our Administration.”
Crabbe’s current contract was set to expire at the end of this month.聽The Board of Trustees has authorized procurement of a consultant to assist in an executive search and recruitment of a new CEO.
Crabbe, who was named CEO in March 2012, has led OHA through challenging times, including a state audit last year that found the quasi-governmental agency had misspent millions of dollars.
His tenure coincided with a protracted power struggle among trustees, some of who backed Crabbe and others who wanted him ousted.
