OHA trustees review Mana‘i Maoli Ola flowchart; ask for data dashboard, earlier review and stronger beneficiary input

At the April 30, 2025 meeting of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) Committee on Beneficiary Advocacy and Empowerment, Senior Director of Strategy and Implementation Elena Farden presented a Mana‘i Maoli Ola trustee reference flowchart that outlines a 10‑phase process for vetting, implementing and reporting on programs and initiatives.

The flowchart maps work phases from an approved strategic plan through strategy development, leadership review, community engagement, cross‑divisional collaboration, implementation and both formative and summative evaluation. Farden said the tool "serves as a strategic decision‑making and accountability tool that visually maps the alignment of OHA's programs, initiatives, and investments to the outcomes outlined in the Mana‘i Maoli Ola strategic plan." She described phases that include community consultation, ongoing reporting and a summative assessment toward the end of the plan cycle.

Trustees pressed staff on timing, metrics and beneficiary involvement. Trustee Orlando Aquino asked when formative reporting (workflow phase 8) would occur; Farden said she was "initially forecasting" formative assessment in a later fiscal year (she referred to FY29 in discussion) but said timing could be adjusted based on leadership feedback. Several trustees pushed for an earlier evaluation cycle: Trustee Souza said a review sooner than FY27 may be needed because "we're now 4 years, 4 and a half years in" since the plan began and she has repeatedly asked for measurable outcomes.

Trustee Kahele and others urged a formal refresh of the plan now that external conditions have changed since its 2019–2020 adoption; Kahele said typical practice in comparable institutions is a 3–5 year review. Farden and other S&I staff responded that the office is preparing tactical plans and targets tied to the flowchart, and recommended waiting until programs planned for FY26–27 are underway so the trustees would have program data to inform any substantive revision.

Trustees also asked for a public data dashboard tied to the flowchart and strategic outcomes. Trustee Aquina and Trustee Okunai said they want an annual chart of key metrics so the board and external audiences can track year‑to‑year progress. Farden confirmed S&I is developing a dashboard and said staff will present a proposed data dashboard to trustees in a subsequent briefing; she emphasized that population‑level outcomes will be supplemented by program‑level data tied to specific initiatives.

Public testimony from beneficiary Germaine Myers urged stronger beneficiary engagement. Myers said the flowchart's community engagement step risked elevating partner voices over beneficiaries and recommended adding a discrete "beneficiary engagement" step between the strategy-development phase and the leadership touchpoint so beneficiary input informs program design earlier. Myers also suggested digitizing OHA's Hawaiian Registry Program to allow ongoing outreach and surveys of registered beneficiaries; she said the registry requires renewal every five years and could be a source of community feedback.

Staff described community engagement as a community‑based participatory research approach that includes "community data dialogues" to ground‑truth population data locally. Farden and S&I staff also noted that some program pilots (for example, a restorative‑justice specialty court pilot) will produce program‑level data that can be evaluated against population targets.

Trustees and staff agreed on some process points: the flowchart is intended as a living implementation tool rather than a fixed mandate; S&I will return with the tactical plans and the proposed dashboard; and trustees retain authority to request a strategic‑plan refresh. Several trustees asked staff to consider accelerating community engagement in high‑need places and to report back with clearer timing for formative and summative assessments.

The discussion concluded without formal board action on the flowchart itself; staff were asked to bring back the dashboard proposal and program‑level reporting schedules for trustee review.