As the search for the new Kamehameha Schools trustee is one step closer, three candidates are vying for a seat on the five-member board that governs one of the largest charitable trusts in Hawai‘i.
The finalists for the Kamehameha Schools Board of Trustees position are Keith Vieira, a longtime hotel and tourism executive; Eric Yeaman, chairman of Alexander & Baldwin; and Olin Kealoha Lagon, a social entrepreneur.
The trustee search comes amid a legal challenge to the schools’ admissions policy and ongoing effects from the Maui wildfires settlement.
“Being a trustee for the schools isn't the easiest job,” said Jacob Aki, an alumnus and president of the O‘ahu Council of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs. “You need to have an understanding in business, banking, financing and land management.”
The Kamehameha Schools Board of Trustees oversees assets worth about $15.2 billion. The trust, which also owns more than 300,000 acres of land across the state, was created by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop in 1883 for the education of Native Hawaiian students.
Pauahi created the five-member panel to help carry out her vision in her will and originally requested the Hawai‘i Supreme Court justices to fill vacancies on the board.
That process changed following a scandal in the 1990s that was chronicled in the book “Broken Trust: Greed, Mismanagement & Political Manipulation at America’s Largest Charitable Trust.”
The exposure of the financial mismanagement of the trust led to sweeping reform of the trust’s administration.
A demand for transparency
Beneficiaries and stakeholders have long raised concerns about the selection process remaining too closed and offering limited opportunities for alumni, faculty and other community members to engage.
A 2024 court ruling halted efforts to shift toward a more transparent process.
Under the current process, a court-appointed screening committee of seven people identifies and narrows down the finalists, then there's a public comment period before the probate court picks the top candidate.
The selection committee announced the finalists on Dec. 1, picking their top three out of 83 candidates. This gives the public about 30 days before the deadline to submit written comments by Dec. 31.
Critics say that's not enough time.
“It’s the holiday season, so how is that fair?” said Honolulu Councilmember Esther Kia‘āina, a KS alumna.
Native Hawaiian organizations O‘ahu Council of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs and Kanaeokana, a network organized and funded by KS, held a public forum on Dec. 18 at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama for people to meet the finalists. Also, the event was livestreamed and published online.
More than 50 people attended the in-person event.
“As beneficiaries and as folks who are affected by the impacts that these potential trustees are going to make, it's important that we have this forum and an opportunity to really hear from them,” Aki said.
Last week, the finalists addressed the lawsuit challenging the schools' admission policy, which is to give preference to applicants of Hawaiian ancestry. In addition, they discussed their top priorities on land and education programs.
Julian Ako, a former principal at Kamehameha School Kāpalama, said while he's not happy with the current selection process, he wants the probate court to pick the best trustee out of the three finalists.
“Although the trustee selection process is an ongoing concern for me, at this point in time, it's sort of a red herring,” he said.
Meet the finalists
The makeup of the Board of Trustees is more diverse than in the past, with mostly a female-dominated board.
The trustees include Crystal Kauilani Rose, who has a legal background; Jennifer Noelani Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua,whose professional career includes over two decades in academia; Michelle Ka‘uhane, who has 20 years of executive leadership experience in public and nonprofit administration; and Elliot Kawaihoʻolana Mills, the CEO and managing partner of Hawai'i Hospitality Group.
The most recent trustee to leave the board was Robert Nobriga, who termed out. The selected trustee will serve a five-year term with the ability to seek one additional term thereafter.
Last week, all trustee finalists defended the admission policy at the public forum.
Eric Yeaman even called the policy “the holy grail.”
“Protecting the preference policy is a fundamental responsibility of the trustees and we have to defend it at all costs,” Yeaman said.
Yeaman is chairman of Alexander & Baldwin and former president and COO of First Hawaii, Inc., and First Hawaiian Bank. He's also the former CEO of Hawai‘i Telcom.
His earlier career included roles as COO and CFO for Kamehameha Schools' for-profit entities and board service on several KS subsidies.
Yeaman grew up in Hōnaunau on Hawai‘i Island. He was mostly raised by his mother, who worked as a waitress.
When he was 10, Yeaman said he participated in Kamehameha Schools’ Ho‘omāka‘ika‘i program, which has students engage in hands-on cultural activities.
“It was the first time in my life that I went through an immersion on Hawaiian values and language and culture, and it really taught me who I really was as a Hawaiian,” he said.
He eventually returned to “connect with Kamehameha Schools as part of the investigation for the court as well as chief financial officer."
“I want to go full circle and give back to an institution that has had a positive impact on my life,” he said.
Last month, Kamehameha Schools sold land beneath the Royal Hawaiian Resort Waikīkī to a Japan-based company.
Yeaman said he was surprised when KS sold that land.
“Trustees have to approach the 'āina with discipline, strong governance and a long-term perspective, trying to balance the needs of educating more and more of our Hawaiian children with retaining the land,” he said.
Keith Vieira is a longtime hotel and tourism executive and former senior vice president and director of operations for Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Hawai‘i and French Polynesia.
He was an original board member of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority when it was created in 1998.
He said his father was strict while growing up in Hilo on Hawai‘i Island. In high school, he worked as a janitor at JCPenney’s for $1.60 an hour. He was also a bouncer at night clubs. He graduated from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Shidler College of Business with a bachelor's degree.
Vieira was also surprised that KS sold land beneath the Royal Hawaiian, but added that's a good investment.
“There's got to be a balance and an understanding of doing the right thing,” Vieira said. “Protecting the 'āina, but there also has to be an understanding of what we can do financially because at the end of the day, we’ve got to be able to survive for the long run.”
Vieira said he wants an additional campus to get more students at Kamehameha Schools, which has 7,300 students enrolled across its three campuses on Oʻahu, Maui and Hawaiʻi Island.
He wants the trust to invest in a campus, particularly in West O‘ahu.
“Whether it be the campus or classes down on West Oʻahu, where a lot of our students are from, instead of having them ride the bus back and forth every day,” he said. “Doesn't have to be a new school. But could we help manage their time a lot better by having a secondary campus out there?”
Olin Kealoha Lagon is a social entrepreneur and co-founder of the nonprofit Purple Mai‘a Foundation.
He grew up in public housing on O‘ahu, first in Pālolo then Kūhiō Park Terrace in Kalihi.
“Either you can scrap or you can run,” Lagon said during the public forum. “Look at me. You know that I can run.”
He described his experience in public housing with an event that occurred when he was a kid. Lagon was stabbed in the head by another child while he was writing on the sidewalk with chalk.
When he was 19, Lagon said he received the call that changed his life. It was a full-ride scholarship for his college education, sponsored by Kamehameha Schools.
“I no longer have to work full time, go to college and pay my mom's rent,” he said. “They covered everything, like all my tuition, my housing, and it completely changed me.”
Lagon said the biggest need is special education.
While the schools serve Native Hawaiian students, there are no programs for students with learning differences.
“Where are the special ed kids,” he said, adding that he was in special education.
Lagon also raised concerns about artificial intelligence and its development in the next five years. He added that there isn't a technologist currently on the board.
“If you guys don't see what's coming with AI, it's going to kick our butt,” he said. “This is Captain Cook 2.0 that's landing on our shores, and we got to deal with it.”
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