NaHHA Names New Executive Director, Board Members
As the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association prepares to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its 1997 founding next year, the board of directors proudly announces the appointment of a new Executive Director, and the addition of three new members to the board.
Mālia Sanders has been appointed Executive Director, effective today. Sanders celebrates 10 years at NaHHA this month, managing projects, finances, and a team of contractors across Hawaiʻi. Her most recent position was Director of Operations. Before joining NaHHA, she served in front office leadership roles at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and Hilton Waikoloa Village, the largest hotels on Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island respectively. She is an accomplished pāʻū practitioner, and serves as Vice President of the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu and on the Economic Development Committee of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs.
“Having worked on the front lines of the visitor industry myself, and understanding the crossroads we find ourselves at with record numbers of visitors and incresing pressure on our community, natural, and cultural resources, NaHHA’s work is more important now than ever before,” said Sanders. “We are energized with the new leadership at the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority as we work together on Hawaiian cultural training and education, supporting our kamaʻāina businesses and non-profits, and meaningful gatherings that advance NaHHA’s mission, HTA’s strategic plan, and the community’s priorities as expressed in the Destination Management Action Plans. I thank the board for the trust they put in me to lead this work.”
The board has grown to six directors with the addition of Douglas Chang, Kealiʻi Haverly, and Monte McComber II.
Douglas Chang is an award-winning veteran hotelier currently serving as General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Residences Waikīkī Beach, the largest residential property in the global Ritz-Carlton portfolio. His hospitality leadership spans four decades and includes general manager roles at high-profile resorts on Kauaʻi, Maui, and the Continental U.S. At the beginning of his career on Kauaʻi, Chang was inspired by the message and purpose of NaHHA’s founders Dr. George Kanahele and Sen. Kenneth Brown to create meaningful and mutually beneficial connections between the native host community and tourism. This inspiration carried through Chang’s service as a founding board member of NaHHA, and as a board chair of the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority who championed initiatives to support our fragile natural and cultural resources. He is an avid competitive hoe waʻa with Keahiakahoe Canoe Club. Chang will serve as the NaHHA board’s vice president.
Kealiʻi Haverly is a kamaʻāina of Waialua and Koʻolauloa, Oʻahu with nearly three decades of experience in sales and operations in Hawaiʻi’s visitor industry, including leadership roles at Kualoa Ranch and the Polynesian Cultural Center. He currently serves as Director of Facilities at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Haverly serves his community as a board member of the Retail Merchants of Hawaiʻi, and has previously served with the Hawaiʻi Attractions Association and Nā Leo Kākoʻo ʻO Koʻolauloa. Haverly’s children are fluent ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi speakers, graduates and students of kula kaiapuni.
Monte McComber II is a lifelong educator who currently serves as the Cultural Director for the Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikīkī. He previously served as Director of Education Services for NaHHA, overseeing training and staff development offerings, taught in the classroom, and has served as an educational administrator. His community involvement includes service on boards and commissions overseeing the Aloha Festivals, Ulu Aʻe Learning Center, the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu, and more.
Chang, Haverly, and McComber join John Aeto, Jace McQuivey, and Phil Sammer on the NaHHA board.
“The institutional knowledge, industry experience, and community commitment brought to the table by all of our new appointments make NaHHA stronger and put us in a better position to address the real-time needs of our community,” said John Aeto, president of the board. “As we prepare to commemorate NaHHA’s anniversary next year, I think our founders would be proud of the progress we have made, and would encourage us to look toward the next 25 years with great confidence.”
With pandemic-related restrictions bringing the visitor industry to a halt in 2020, NaHHA doubled down on its work. Over the past year, the organization pivoted to deliver its signature cultural training via distance learning, reaching over 4,200 learners across Hawaiʻi and beyond – an all-time high for the organization. NaHHA’s annual Ka Huina conference went digital while taking on the challenging issues of the day, featuring conversations with thought and action leaders in community, Hawaiian culture, tourism, and sustainability in four half-day sessions through May and June 2021.
In the coming year, NaHHA is expanding its work in partnership with the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority. Building upon over two decades of experience in workforce training and cultural consultation, NaHHA will enhance its support for cultural resource people working in the visitor industry, expand its work with entrepreneurs and tourism product development by businesses and community organizations, and continue its advocacy of more ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi in all aspects of life in Hawaiʻi.
NaHHA will also be working closely with other organizations with aligned missions. A partnership with HTA and the state’s Creative Industries Division will work to cultivate and promote opportunities for Hawaiʻi’s artists, especially in music and hula, and seek opportunities to elevate Hawaiʻi’s creative heritage in national and international media. In partnership with Hawaiʻi’s Native Hawaiian Chambers of Commerce, NaHHA is developing a directory of Native Hawaiian-owned business across Hawaiʻi meant to reduce capital flight by steering customers toward kamaʻāina businesses.
NaHHA’s work is guided by the vision of our founders, the strategic plan of the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, the priorities of our community as expressed in the Destination Management Action Plans, Hawaiʻi’s sustainability goals in the Aloha+ Challenge, the global UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the guiding principles of the ʻĀina Aloha Economic Futures Declaration, of which NaHHA was an original signatory. Learn more about NaHHA’s programs and available resources at NaHHA.com.
About the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association
The Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association was founded in 1997 by Sen. Kenneth Brown and Dr. George Kanahele, two iconic Hawaiian leaders who understood the implications, opportunities and impacts that Hawai‘i’s largest industry was having on the people of Hawai‘i, Hawaiian culture, local ways and our state’s natural and cultural resources.
Inspired by a shared vision of Hawai‘i, Brown and Kanahele co-founded NaHHA to shape the future of Hawai‘i tourism by utilizing Hawaiian cultural values as the foundation for business development and leadership. NaHHA promotes Hawaiian culture, values, and traditions in the workplace through consultation and education, and supports those who advance this mission.