Jacob Aki on Native histories: "When we look into our history, we have a history of excellence...and we have to reclaim that."
Jacob Aki
My conversation with Jacob Aki sparked a lot of thoughts about how I think about leadership and solving tough problems.
Jacob's bio below outlines well his leadership and contribution to his community at such a young age. In particular, I was taken by two parts of our conversation:
First, Jacob discussed the organization Aha Kane, which has the mission "To nurture a healthier Native Hawaiian male population by eliminating psychosocial, health, and educational disparities through activities founded on traditional cultural practices that build sustainability in the community." Essentially the organization has formalized mentoring of young Hawaiian men in traditional teachings, but also creates a network to rely upon throughout one's life. There is a woman's organization, too. This seems to be an innovative approach to create formal and informal networks in the community.
Second, Jacob discusses the current debate happening in the Hawaiian community surrounding how the nation should move forward. I'm not jumping into the middle of that debate, but I thought about how we often think of previous leaders and how they were able to unify a people under their leadership. There have to be those types of people today, but do we think of their skills and abilities in the same was as we appreciate those whose contributions we can see retroactively?
The other leadership component I thought about is how young and old generations transition the knowledge and decision making in an organization/business/community/government. I think the natural tendency for young Native people is to stand back and let others lead because that is what we think we've been taught (and often times is what we are taught). But Jacob told a story about how once he and others got involved in different processes, older leaders expressed appreciation that they were there, and consternation about what took them so long to step up. Learning happens by doing, and I think there is a cultural estuary that we miss out on if we don't bring different generations together to teach and correct and to learn and succeed.
This is not to say that a young person should expect to lead their people without any prior experience. But it is to say that people of any age can get involved in a variety of ways and begin to learn how to lead, learn and carry themselves.
Any thoughts? Leave a comment below.
Jacob's bio
Jacob Bryan Kaʻōmakaokalā Aki is a 21 year old Native Hawaiian who was born and raised in Kapālama and Waiʻanae on the island of Oʻahu. He is a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools and currently a senior at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He is majoring in Hawaiian Studies and Language. Jacob was also a 2015 participant in the Native American Political Leadership Program at the George Washington University in Washington D.C. While in Washington D.C. he was a Federal Policy Intern at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Washington D.C. Bureau. After returning to Hawaiʻi, Jacob became a youth board member for the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) and Peace Child International Hawaiʻi. Jacob was the youngest delegate at the ʻAha 2016: Native Hawaiian Governance Convention. He recently returned from New York City, where he attended the 2016 United National Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, where he became the Pacific Focal Point for the World Indigenous Youth Caucus. Jacob is currently a Public Policy Intern at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. He hopes to attend law school where he can use his degree to serve the Hawaiian people. His goal is to become a prominent leader in the Native Hawaiian Community.
