I’m not running because District 21 is broken. I’m running because it’s worth protecting.

I’ve spent the last decade behind the lens as a photographer, capturing the hustle and heart of hundreds of small businesses in our community. I’ve seen how much people pour into their work and still struggle just to make it to the next month.

Communities don’t disappear all at once. They hollow out — family by family, shop by shop.

We need leadership that

• Strengthens the conditions that allow families and businesses to stay.
• Protects what makes this district a place our children can choose to call home.
• Brings people together, celebrating the connections that keep our community thriving.
• Isn’t afraid to stand up for what our community needs and stays grounded in who they are rather than succumbing to pressure or outside influence.
• Shapes change so it serves the people already here, not outside interests.

That’s why I’m running.

We live in one of the few districts that still feels like home.

One of the few places that has managed to keep the same feeling it had when we were kids.

That didn’t happen by accident.
And it won’t last without people willing to protect it.

Protect it from rising costs.
From monster homes.
From outside speculators looking to profit at our expense.

Protect the shop owners.
The creatives.
The family-run businesses.
The familiar faces and generational homes that give these neighborhoods life.

If we want to leave our children a district they can afford and want to live in, we need representation that understands both preservation and progress.

Not politics as usual.
Not one-size-fits-all solutions.
But leadership rooted here.

After the August 8th fires in Lāhainā, I co-founded Help Maui Rise.

We saw a critical gap in aid: people needed cash, and they needed it immediately. As a donor myself, I wanted to know that my money would reach families directly and fast. When we realized no existing system could deliver this equitably, we built one ourselves.

What started as neighbors helping neighbors became a fully volunteer-run effort that raised over $18 million and supported more than 1,600 displaced families. Every dollar went directly to families.

That work taught me:

• Listen first.

• Transparency matters.

• Meet people where they are.

• Build systems that treat people with dignity.

But mutual aid can only meet urgent needs. Without policy change, we are constantly responding to harm instead of preventing it. That realization led me to organize and testify alongside community leaders to return housing to local residents. Together, we helped pass legislation to phase out thousands of short-term rentals and bring homes back to local families.

It was in this fight that I learned there is no shortage of good ideas or good bills. What’s missing is courage, follow-through, and accountability inside the building.

I’ve spent my life in relationship with ʻāina and community. Through food sovereignty work, restoring local food systems, community organizing, and learning alongside leaders at Puʻuhonua o Waimānalo, I’ve come to understand how deeply connected our challenges truly are.

Housing.
Food.
Water.
Energy.
Cost of living.

They all trace back to land — and to who decisions are being made for.

When we treat ʻāina as something to steward rather than something to profit from, families can stay. Communities can thrive. And our children can choose to build their futures here at home.

This campaign is rooted in protecting what sustains us, prioritizing local families, and making sure Hawaiʻi’s future is shaped by the people who call it home.

Mutual aid taught me how to show up in crisis.

Policy work showed me how change actually happens inside the system and how critical it is to have the right people at the table.

ʻĀina work keeps me grounded in our kuleana to protect the land we live on and reminds me that this work has to be rooted in hope.

Together, that’s what made running feel less like a decision and more like a responsibility.

I’m fighting for:

A government that answers to the people, not big money.

Housing policies that keep local families and kūpuna in their homes.

Food, energy, and water systems that build long-term resilience.

A small-business ecosystem that can survive rising costs.

An economy that supports working families, strong public schools, and fair wages.

This is a grassroots, people-powered campaign.

I’m not accepting money from corporate PACs, corporate lobbyists, special interests, or other candidates.

That means no backroom obligations.

No quiet compromises.

No political debts.

Other candidates may have more connections on Beretania and Bishop Street. I think it matters more to be connected to Wilhelmina, Pālolo Valley, and Wai'‘alae.

This campaign begins with listening:

Door-to-door conversations.
Neighborhood board meetings
Asking people what they need and who they already trust.

I’m not here to speak over this community.

I’m here to represent it.