Kamanaʻopono M. Crabbe

Dr. Kamanaʻopono M. Crabbe advises APIAHF on its Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander strategy. He is a seasoned spokesperson and representative for the Native Hawaiian community on Native Hawaiian rights, social inequities, community health and resilience, and current social, cultural, educational, economic and political issues affecting Native Hawaiians, Hawai’i and the Pacific.

Dr. Crabbe has focused his personal, academic and professional career toward improving Native Hawaiian health and well-being. He has served on several high-level policy and governing boards around the world and Hawai`i. His executive leadership is demonstrated through civic positions serving on the Hawai‘i Executive Conference Advisory Board; Executive Committee of the Assembly of Austronesian Leaders; IUCN World Conservation Congress, Steering Committee Member; Former President and Member of Nā Limahana O Lonopūhā Native Hawaiian Health Consortium; and The Native Hawaiian Criminal Justice Task Force as Vice Chair. He was the Director of Psychology Training at the Waiʻanae Coast Comprehensive Health Center from 2008-2010. In 2010, he joined the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) as its Research Director, focusing on socio-demographic, land, culture, and history, and educational and economic research where he began some of Hawaiʻi’s most innvoative projects. In March 2012, Dr. Crabbe was appointed to Chief Executive Officer for OHA, a semi-autonomous government agency whose charge is to empower Native Hawaiians and strengthen Hawaiʻi. As OHA’s Ka Pouhana, the main post of the hale, he grounded the organization in Kūkulu Hou – his vision to reestablish and rebuild the mana of kānaka maoli, Native Hawaiians. Dr. Crabbe directed OHA’s efforts in addressing its strategic priorities of ʻĀina (Land & Water), Moʻomeheu (Culture), Ea (Governance), Hoʻonaʻauao (Education), Hoʻokahua Waiwai (Economic Self-Sufficiency) and Mauli Ola (Health). He also served as OHA’s International Liaison to the Polynesian Leader’s Group, an international governmental cooperation group bringing together eight independent or self-governing countries or territories in Polynesia (2013-2019).

From 2019-2021 he served as Ka Pouhana-CEO for the Kohala Institute at ‘Iole where he led the organization on a new vision to “be a world leader in sustainable thinking through a model 21st century ahupua’a, where land is chief and man is steward.” The organization strived to build a foundation of indigenous, Native Hawaiian ancestral knowledge and wisdom grounded in the stewardship of 2,400 acres of cultural, natural-environmental, and elemental assets and resources using the ancient ahupua’a-moku land system structure, cultural place-based educational programs, and a pu’uhonua sanctuary as the nexus of culture and sustainability in Kohala, Hawai`i island. Currently, he is the Ka Pouhana-CEO for Pouhana Consultation Services specializing in executive leadership, strategic planning and management, organizational culture, and the integration of Hawaiian cultural in organizations.

He has received numerous cultural distinctions and formal awards recognizing his executive leadership and accomplishments, such as the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education Leadership Award, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement’s Native Hawaiian Advocate Award, the Hawaiʻi Psychological Association’s Patrick H. DeLeon, Ph.D. Lifetime Achievement Award, and American Psychological Association’s Minority Fellowship Program Predoctoral Fellowship, among many others.

Uplifting the mana and mauli ola of the Hawaiian community through transformation and indigenous excellence are pillars of his leadership values. Crabbe serves his community as a hoʻoponopono practitioner, skilled chanter and orator, and ‘aha ‘awa ceremony and protocol expert. In 2006, he established the nonprofitl organization, ʻAha Kāne: Foundation for the Advancement of Native Hawaiian Males. He earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and served countless families, youth and communities as a licensed clinical psychologist for over 12 years. He is guided by this ancient Hawaiian proverb knowing that every good leader needs a strong foundation for their work and vision, Ke kahu mamua, mahope ke kūkulu. The foundation first, the building afterwards. (Pukui, 1983, #2459).