Andrew Aoki

ANDREW AOKI Andrew is a civic and social entrepreneur who works as a facilitator, strategist, problem solver, and communicator. His career includes running youth development programs for the YMCA of Honolulu, analyzing state agencies for the Hawai‘i State Auditor, and overseeing grantmaking at the HMSA Foundation. He helped start several social enterprises including 3Point Consulting, College Connections Hawaiʻi, and Kanu Hawaiʻi. In recognition of his entrepreneurial public service work, Andrew received the inaugural 2002 Hoʻokele Award for nonprofit leadership. From 2009 to 2010, Andrew oversaw media strategy, voter organizing and mobilization, policy development, candidate preparation, and other strategic elements for Neil Abercrombie’s successful gubernatorial campaign. He then served as Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of the Governor, helping to oversee the cabinet, designing public policy for the state, and advising the governor on all matters. Andrew resigned in October 2011 in search of more effective ways of bringing about social change in Hawaiʻi and co-founded Islander Institute with this mission in mind. Andrew grew up in Moanalua Valley on Oʻahu and now calls Kailua his home. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Stanford University, a juris doctor from the University of Michigan Law School, and a master’s degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.