Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / New CCSR Deputy Director Dr. Kealoha Fox on taking on this new role

Transcript

New CCSR Deputy Director Dr. Kealoha Fox on taking on this new role · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

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Welcome to The One Oahu podcast.
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I'm your host, Brandi Higa, and joining us this week is Doctor Kealoha Fox,
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new deputy director for the Office of Climate Change,
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Sustainability and Resiliency, or Cser, as it's easier to say.
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Doctor Fox, thanks so much for joining us.
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Mahalo, Brandi.
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It's really nice to be here with you all today.
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So you've been here with the city for a little over two months.
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Two months? Exactly.
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So where were you before this.
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And what do you think prepared you for this role.
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Yeah. So before this I was with Aloha Care.
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Aloha care is a nonprofit organization that focuses
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on Medicaid and Medicare eligible recipients.
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And so in my day to day work for the pandemic and prior to
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at that organization, I was really focused on making sure that our residents
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get the care that they need, even outside of the doctor's office.
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So my work was really overseeing what we refer to
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as the social determinants of health.
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So we know that our biological and physical health
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contributes to a certain amount of our overall wellness
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and our well-being and our ability to thrive.
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But so much of our environment, the built environment, can we walk to work?
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Do we have parks for recreation around us?
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The air that we breathe, right.
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Is there pollution?
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All of that we know also contributes to our health.
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And not just our physical health, but our mental, our emotional or spiritual
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or our economic health for the islands, too.
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So that was really more
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my portfolio of work was really trying to bring the social determinants of health
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into our policies, our strategies and our programs to make sure
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that we were meeting the people where they needed us to
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and make sure that their care was covered
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and that we were doing the the right thing that we needed to do.
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Yeah, it sounds like a more direct route and you explain it like that.
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But we usually when you hear medical, you know,
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it feels a little odd to say, okay, now I'm going to deal with climate.
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Yeah. Yeah. No.
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So absolutely. So even in health care. Right.
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Folks are saying what does people having access to the bus
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and these transit systems have anything to do with their health?
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Well, actually, we know in Hawaii, housing, transportation
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and food are actually the top barriers to people's everyday ability to live.
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Well.
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It's not dissimilar to what we're already seeing for climate change
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and the climate actions that we need to do and uplift here within the city.
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And so for me, it seems like a really natural,
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you know, translation from one sector to the other.
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But then I also think that it's really great to work into,
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you know, disciplinary between what businesses are doing,
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what stakeholders are doing across the island
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to make sure that we're working so much more in collaboration.
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And I think that's the spirit of Hawaii, right?
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It's not that one entity has to do it alone.
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It's that we're actually all going to face this climate crisis together,
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and we're going to think of the actions and solutions hand in hand.
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So you are the deputy director at CCSR.
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What does that mean?
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What are you responsible for?
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I have to pretty I think, lofty,
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you know, titles that equals kuleana.
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Right.
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So I have the deputy chief resilience officer for Oahu.
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Right.
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So making sure that we're doing what we need to do for this island
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and making sure that we're extending the mayor's will
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and his efforts to each and every sector.
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And then the deputy director of the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability
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and Resiliency is also that internal work that we're doing with our sister offices,
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with other departments and agencies that so that we're working in tandem
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with other government offices, their programs and initiatives to
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make sure that we're really accelerating and leveraging our change.
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Not any of us are here for too long in some of these positions.
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But when we're able to work together, especially across government,
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we know that those actions will really, really hold.
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Like the test of time.
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Has this role than what you expected it to be so far?
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I absolutely think so.
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So first of all, coming in two months ago, just during the holidays
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and being a part of mayors second, term and our inauguration earlier this month
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absolutely met all of, you know, my hopes and expectations.
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Right.
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There's this tremendous energy of the team.
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We have a phenomenal cabinet, and I think we are 100% full in our cabinet
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positions now, which means we have all of the people in the places
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we need them to for the next four years for us to do all of this great work.
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I love the energy that I see each and every day across the city,
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from workers that I'm just getting to meet,
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to longtime collaborators that I was actually calling on
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when I was on the outside, that I'm hoping to mimic some of those
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responsibilities and communications in my current role,
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and the way that we can interact internally and externally.
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Today.
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What's been the toughest part of the transition for you so far?
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I think the toughest part for me has actually been like,
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what is our ability to accelerate change right now?
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When the conversation about climate change is on everybody's
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mind, you cannot escape it from the radio to the news,
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you know, to the the, you know, the drinking water conversation
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that people are having here around the office.
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Everybody knows right now that the wildfires in California
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have really sparked a lot of interest of are we prepared here?
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What would a disaster look like if we were to plan for it locally?
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Right.
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Not dissimilar to the conversations we've been having for a year
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and a half due to Lahaina and the tragedies there.
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And then I think second has has definitely been what's the global and national
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climate conversation right now for climate change and climate action,
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which seems to be really teetering on a lot of unknowns.
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What I feel like that
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accelerates for us, though, is what we can do at the local level.
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And so while there's been,
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I think, a lot of opportunities for me to listen and learn and observe early
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in my first few weeks here, what I'm also really excited about
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is thinking of new ways and innovative solutions
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that we can act quicker and more efficiently with the care
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of our community, residents and other stakeholders
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when it may not be known what's happening elsewhere outside of Hawaii.
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But here we can do so much.
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So I want to unpack something that you said
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earlier when you talked about the wildfires. You're right.
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Climate change is making wildfire conditions like what we see in LA, what
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we saw in Lahaina, more likely elsewhere, maybe even here on Oahu.
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So what are you paying attention to specifically?
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So our team here has paid attention to these known hazards
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that data and science is telling us is already impacting Oahu.
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So definitely drought and wildfire is one.
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We just met with the Honolulu Fire Department last week
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to see if there are ways that we can even, you know, more efficiently collaborate
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and build a partnership between our agencies.
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So that's the beauty of being in these positions,
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right, is we can reach directly into other departments
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and tap their leaders to say, hey, do you need any support from us?
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Can we help you with tools or resources in some of your projects
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that you have going on?
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So yeah, it is definitely top of mind
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when we talk about wildfire and drought, for instance.
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But then we have another program that's focused on our coastal areas and water.
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What happens when sea levels are continuing to rise?
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When these king tide scenarios are getting more and more frequent,
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we can do those same types of in in reaches
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with, say, the Department of Ocean Safety, our new department that was created.
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These are all these opportunities that we're tracking
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from a really informatic level, but we're bringing it directly back
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into the communities and working with leaders
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that are already experts in each one of those areas and sectors.
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And something else that you said, that was interesting is what we can do
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at the local level, right?
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So regardless of what happens federally, because I know
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a lot of people are watching this new administration,
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and when you say there's things we can do locally,
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I know a lot of programs, a lot of things that we implement.
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You know, a lot of it is dependent on funding.
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So what can you do this office do now to kind of make people feel
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a little more at ease?
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Yeah, absolutely.
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So one of the areas, for folks that are able to get on
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to resilient oahu.org, we have this Ola Oahu Resilience strategy.
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This was actually an initiative and document
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that I actually participated on as an external stakeholder.
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So really being able to contribute to these four pillars.
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Yeah.
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And 44 actions was something that I did externally when I before
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Aloha Kai previously worked at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs,
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where I led climate change.
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For our organization, we have these strategies,
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we have these pillars, we have these actions and tools already established.
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What this opportunity now, at this time in 2025,
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what it brings to us is let's go back to our playbook.
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Let's go back to what thousands of residents and stakeholders
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contributed through through surveys, through focus groups, through town
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halls that are already established in these core guiding documents.
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And let's start working in areas for local action that make more sense
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now between 2025 and 2029, than maybe they did before.
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What kind of do you have any examples?
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What kind of things are implemented before? Yeah.
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What do people say mattered to them? Yeah, absolutely.
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So one of the areas
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that I'm looking at right now is this pillar for community cohesion.
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So we know that even the best data in science
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isn't always the motivator for people to act right.
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Behavior change is not an.
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Easy I still drive my car everywhere.
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And so I know, I know, I'm part of this. So yeah.
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So behavior change is hard to institute and behavior change that sticks,
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that people do daily or weekly or annually is even harder.
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Right?
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So when I think about community cohesion, I'm thinking
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exactly what to our pillar here says in the Ola Resilience strategy
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that we need to leverage the strength and leadership of local communities
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because they are the essential element for resilience.
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How beautiful is that?
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It's not just philosophical,
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but in Hawaii, with our common aina, that's absolutely true.
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We won't be able to do work in Waimanalo, in Waikiki, in how all are in white.
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And I if we aren't already working with community based organizations, community
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leaders, businesses, you know, faith based organizations, youth groups, right,
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that are already building their strategies for what resilience means for them.
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And then us coming in and providing the tools and resources that we can
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when we're invited to and when there's opportunities to collaborate.
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So it's like smaller projects, smaller relationships
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that kind of make it easier to swallow. When you look at the big picture.
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I think that's the kahuna, right?
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That's the foundation of how you get anything done in Hawaii.
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It's about our pina. It's about our relationships.
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When you know someone, when your family is affected by something,
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when you worry about the next generation and if your children are grand,
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our grandchildren are going to be affected by these hazards and these conditions.
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Those are motivators to act.
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Those are true underpinnings of what behavior
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change starts to look like within individuals, families.
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And then whole communities
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starting to really shift the way that they operate and work.
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You know, I asked you earlier what the toughest part
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of this transition has been, but, you know, on the flip side of that,
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has there been anything that surprised you in a good way?
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Oh, yeah.
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I mean, I think what surprised me in a good way is every day I hear
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new innovations coming out from our fellow cabinet members and then also our staff.
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I was able to meet with Henry, for instance, at any rate,
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and just getting to know him for the very first time.
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He's so concerned about the waste on our island, he's really concerned that
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this waste is getting into people's, you know, neighborhoods in their backyard.
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It's laying in people's roads and stuff.
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But then we also want to account for what are better, more sustainable ways.
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That isn't just about recycling, but it's actually about the total reduction
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of our use. Right.
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So that our footprints are lower and he and I didn't know
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each other before, but we share such a similar set of values.
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I know what he can do it.
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Envy is going to be so complementary to what we do in Cser.
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And ultimately, if Henry and and I work together
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and our teams continue to collaborate behind the scenes, I know
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that all of us will achieve our goals, but in a much more like, similar direction.
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Yeah.
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What are some of the priorities that you're trying to take on
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or trying to, you know, establish as you take on this new leadership role?
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One of the things that I really want to help with is
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making sure that our communications are messaging,
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and our story is it's multiple pathways, right?
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It's not just us sharing outwardly with the community,
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but making sure that we're out there listening to hearing
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what people's needs are, how is this impacting people's everyday lives?
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Because I think that's what the residents are really counting on us for.
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There's core municipal services that show up in people's day to day lives
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is not always there readily when somebody thinks about climate change.
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And so we want to make sure that in our communications
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and our storytelling and our approaches to meet people where they're at,
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we're building in that narrative and those messages,
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because I think that's what helps kind of break down walls.
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And it helps people
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expand their thinking of, oh, this is already impacting my life.
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I didn't really think of it that way.
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It's not 100 years from now.
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It's not 50 years from now. It's right now.
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When it comes to that. Right?
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Outreach, major projects, maybe even like changes to processes.
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Is there anything specific that you're trying to change or implement right now?
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So this for me, it's not me individually, but one of the newest things that we'll
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be working on is the voters voted to establish a climate resiliency fund.
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This is the first time in Hawaii anything like this
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has been created at the city or the state level.
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And so we want to make sure that we're setting this up from the beginning
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in a way that makes sense.
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It helps to support the needs of what the community voted on,
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to make sure that we're providing educational resources
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and financial resources to some of the projects
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for our infrastructure and for our natural environment to work
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hand-in-hand, hand-in-hand together,
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and to make sure that we're adapting to the changes that we're already seeing
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so that we can build up the resiliency across our departments.
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So that is not just me alone.
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That's going to take multiple departments and organizations here
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to build up this fund and then see where do we go and what can we build out
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for the next several years.
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Yeah, that was you know, some people get confused
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by those charter amendment questions, right?
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They showed up on the ballot,
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and with you and your background and your role, did you have friends,
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family come up to you and say, you know, so
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what is this and how are you going to use it?
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Absolutely.
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So many people ask me, is that you?
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As I said, yeah. They're like, wait, is this the office?
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You know, how can I weigh in and say yes?
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Because they actually, voters want to see people investing in long
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term solutions that also make sense in the day to day operations.
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Yeah.
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So my family members, you know, whether it's my aunties,
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my cousins, my parents, I want it to also make sense to them too.
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Right.
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We have that duty to serve to our public.
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And so we have the opportunity to build this fund from scratch
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and to make sure that it meets people's needs.
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And it also answered some of those questions
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that I think have been really lingering.
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How are we going to pay for some of these things,
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and where is it going to be operationalized better?
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You're a you're a mom, right? I am.
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What do your kids think you do for work, mom?
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It's,
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Yeah.
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So, I would say my whole family in general
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often wonders, what do I do for work?
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So at any given day, I can be, giving a presentation to, students.
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You know, any of of the public schools here on Oahu,
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I can be, drafting policy statements and editing, you know, percentages
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that we know that research can back up, some of our positions on.
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And I can be working with our teams to make sure that they have
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the resources that they need to complete their projects and programs.
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It's definitely a multimodal, if you will, role.
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But my family is also very, you know, also very confused at all time.
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My son, who is 11,
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he is absolutely trained
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in a way to know that, like our youth already know that this is happening.
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They participate in their science classes, they go to science fairs.
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They're having these discussions in their classrooms.
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What's not happening at my son's, you know, sixth grade level yet
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is what can we do as like the greater population when we come together.
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So these ideas don't just stay in the classroom,
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but can we get youth more involved?
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Can we get schools and teachers more involved?
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Because that's where so much of our lives are dedicated.
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So that's that would be something that I'd even love to think about.
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But he's definitely really confused of of what I do every day.
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But he's also really proud.
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He's one of those kids that knows if you are called to serve
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and if you are a servant leader,
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that you have a mission and purpose that's beyond your individual needs.
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And he just told me the other day,
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after the inauguration, he said he was so proud of us
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because he was able to listen to all of the amazing speeches.
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And, you know, this really like this call to we have to get to work.
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Yeah.
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He was like, wow, I'm really proud of you for being one of those people
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that's going to be out there like Uncle Nainoa said, and we're going to sail.
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Yeah.
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I was like, yeah, buddy, like we're all going to get into the canoe. Yep.
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And then, you know, on the other side of that,
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you must be really proud of him too, because although maybe,
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you know, the mission and the direction isn't exactly paved, doesn't know
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which way you know, this is going. He does look to you.
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And I know that there was a recent city work.
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They were all the cabinet members.
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You know, goddaughter has and he's they were scrubbing signs, raking leaves,
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you know, pulling weeds.
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And your your, your boy was there with you. Yep.
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We know that climate change is drastically changing biodiversity around the world.
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Climate change is going to impact endangered species like we haven't seen,
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not just our animal species, but what you also see at our zoo
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is our plant life, our flora and fauna.
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The zoo is a perfect place to showcase this is
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what we're actually needing to protect.
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But these are also areas that we have to revitalize.
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And so it becomes really tangible when you can see this in your own
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backyard, when you're not able to see our native birds as much anymore,
19:07
when it's hard for us to pick certain flowers to make lay with,
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or the same fish that used to be at certain reefs are not readily
19:15
available anymore for our lives.
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He's very attuned to that.
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And I think many kids here on this island are because they're around those stories.
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They're with their grandparents and their components and their aunties and uncles.
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And so I think it's part of my job, especially as a Native Hawaiian woman,
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to make sure that we're bringing those conversations into the city
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and that we as city representatives are going out
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into the community to making sure we're listening to those needs.
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So, for example, I may, as a representative for the North Shore,
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I could not be more humbled and excited to work
19:51
with our North Shore community right in my own backyard to make sure that
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those opportunities for ideas and concerns are coming right back into our office.
20:00
It's just an example of the work
20:02
that we're doing each and every day that people may not always be aware of.
20:06
Yeah.
20:08
Are there other
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ways that you think culture may play a role in this job that you do now?
20:12
Yeah, absolutely.
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The meeting that I was on actually just before this with our equity manager,
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is looking at culture and heritage as a positive way
20:22
to accelerate climate action.
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If it makes sense to people's heritage,
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their language, their cultural values, it means something.
20:31
Right.
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And so, yeah, we just got off of a call to think about how indigenous solutions,
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how community based solutions that are long term,
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whether we're talking about food, whether we're talking about water,
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if we're talking about,
20:45
conservation for land, for instance,
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all of those areas have deep and rich cultural histories to them.
20:52
And we're looking at building an initiative here that could actually
20:55
create a culture and heritage strategy around our climate actions.
20:59
You mentioned OHA, you mentioned Aloha Care.
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And I'm just wondering, because this is a pretty
21:03
interesting time, memorable time, traumatic time for everyone.
21:06
But the Covid 19 pandemic,
21:08
what was that time like for you, especially in the work that you're doing?
21:11
Then? Oh, yeah.
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So, being, you know, a part of the frontline health care
21:16
workforce, one of those essential workers, if you will.
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You remember, like we we got badges to be able to even drive
21:24
around the island when we didn't think that it was safe to do so.
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We were those people that had to get special forms filled out to be indoors
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in an office when we couldn't have more than 5 or 6 people in any one place.
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That was definitely a part of my work and my role,
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and I feel like we learned so much.
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It wasn't just about the shock and the stress of Covid 19.
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It's also about us thinking, what's the long term recovery
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that's needed from not just the health fallout,
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but the economic shifts, the social shifts that happened?
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I find it to be very similar to the conversations were happening.
22:02
You know, we're happening to have right now around climate change.
22:05
We can't just focus on the shocks and stressors, right?
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We also have to plan.
22:10
We have to be more resilient.
22:12
We have to have a recovery that's in mind for whenever these incidents, happen.
22:17
And I think there's a lot of ways that we as stakeholders that participated
22:21
in these exercises, in these plans, in these policy changes,
22:25
could actually now focus our shift away from Covid and could think about it
22:29
within a climate context that would be so beneficial
22:32
because we built this muscle up and now we have another crisis upon us
22:37
that I think folks could really benefit from coming around the table
22:40
and thinking through. Yeah.
22:42
Do you have any mentors or role models?
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Oh, I do, I have the best.
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I've been, I've been I've been super, super fortunate across my whole life
22:50
to make sure that I've been trained and mentored by others.
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It's, value that I have.
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I consider myself a lifelong learner, and,
22:58
I continue to learn so much each and every day.
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So my, my, my crew are all very valuable to me.
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So Hoku, Lani Holt, a renowned crewman hula
23:10
and one of Virginia, is is a mentor that I consider myself
23:15
continually continuing to be lucky to learn from.
23:19
We participate together in a Native Hawaiian women's cultural group.
23:23
We're actually having so many of
23:25
these conversations that it's it's about the richness of our identities
23:29
that can help to accelerate change for our people in a uniquely like, wahine way.
23:34
Yeah.
23:35
I was able to work with doctor
23:36
coming on Pono Crab for so many years at the Office of Marine Affairs.
23:40
I just was able to see him at a community event this weekend,
23:44
and we're really going back to some of those same lessons and values learned of
23:49
how do you actualize leadership in confusing times.
23:53
And when there's changes
23:54
that are needed at a leadership level that we want to instill
23:57
and make sure that the next generation is is being the successor to.
24:01
Right.
24:01
So I bring those values here to our program managers and our team.
24:05
So yeah, wonderful mentors.
24:07
You know, as we watch you,
24:10
you know, work on these things that matter to you.
24:12
You know, we can tell that you're passionate about that.
24:15
But you know, as we see you go through this as your kids
24:17
see you work through this, what do you hope that people take away?
24:21
I firstly hope that people take away,
24:25
absolute love for our islands.
24:28
Aloha, who is such a unique and diverse place.
24:31
We have such a storied history from
24:35
each and every pocket in each and every neighborhood.
24:38
I hope what people see is that we love and value this place so much
24:43
that even if we have disagreements, even when there might be a debate,
24:46
or even when we might reach a conclusion for a different solution in mind,
24:52
that it's all coming from this deep place of love and aloha, for this aina,
24:57
for all of this water around us, and for the beautiful mountains
25:01
that I'm looking out, you know, beyond you today, Brandi, like
25:05
there's something deeper in each one of us that cares deeply
25:09
about doing the right thing for this place that has given us so much.
25:13
And then I think we can all go back to our organizations,
25:18
our businesses, our schools, and our families to see what our
25:20
what's my responsibility and what are what am I going to do about it?
25:24
I hope people come to that conclusion of and the City and County
25:29
of Honolulu is one of those partners that I want to be at the table with.
25:33
There's somebody that I'm going to call up and reach out to because I want them in
25:36
on this initiative.
25:38
This next one is just kind of a personal curiosity,
25:40
but you've gotten the chance to meet President Barack Obama, right? Yes.
25:44
What is he like?
25:46
So I have been very lucky to be a part of the Obama Foundation,
25:51
leaders network for several for for several years now.
25:55
But I actually want to go back to to earlier the the very first call,
26:00
that I received was when I was working at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs
26:03
and President Obama initiated, a call to action to address the inequities
26:09
and the disparities for men and boys of color across the nation.
26:13
The call came to me because there was enough data and
26:17
information around the African American, the black and Hispanic community.
26:21
There was a gap in the native, and indigenous community
26:26
information of what was happening with our men and boys of color.
26:30
So I was called into,
26:31
you know, some pretty high level meetings in Washington, DC, and they said,
26:35
can you answer this question for us on behalf of Native Hawaiians
26:38
and took on that kuleana and took on that charge
26:41
and not only was able to answer it for our men and boys,
26:44
but also was able to make the companion publication
26:48
and report for women and girls and really situate it within the family context.
26:52
And then after that, was able to work on initiatives like the Affordable
26:57
Care Act and really make sure that the underpinnings of things
27:00
like Obamacare stand the test of time, regardless of political ideology.
27:05
So when you tell somebody that their screening
27:09
may not be covered for preventive care around, you know, whether that's,
27:13
it's cancer screening, for instance, or a diabetes screening,
27:17
when you tell somebody that there may not be covered, but
27:20
the next person that comes in line might be,
27:23
it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to a lot of people.
27:25
And so making sure that we were able to work on efforts like that, I think was
27:30
I will always be like very near and dear to my heart.
27:34
And then definitely more recently with the Obama Foundation being able
27:38
to work with other change makers not only across Hawaii
27:41
but globally to answer these really, really big questions.
27:45
What what Mira refers to as these wicked problems.
27:49
There is no silver bullet.
27:51
There is no prescription that any person's going to write to solve poverty,
27:56
to solve climate change, to solve,
27:59
you know, the unequal burden of care for people's health.
28:03
But if we all work together, what I've learned in these opportunities
28:06
to work with incredible leaders like President Obama and Mrs.
28:09
Obama is that we all have these special gifts and we have these talents.
28:14
And if we can share them together, if we're willing to be vulnerable,
28:18
if we are courageous enough to be transparent,
28:21
then we can really, like shed these titles and we can just really get to work.
28:27
And that's like, I think that's a really, really beautiful message,
28:30
probably for all of us right now in 2025,
28:33
that we maybe don't always hear each and every day.
28:36
Leadership can always be, individualistic, right?
28:40
But something I've
28:41
learned from incredible leaders like President Obama and Mayor Blangiardi
28:44
is it's actually a team.
28:46
So any time we have like two metaphors brandy, like,
28:49
I am like the first one to jump in to you gave me a good football
28:53
metaphor or basketball or baseball or soccer.
28:56
I'm the I'm the first person to be like, yes,
28:59
I love the team metaphor because it just makes sense.
29:03
Well, Doctor Fox, thank you so much for your time.
29:05
Is there anything we missed?
29:07
Oh, I would say,
29:12
I really want people to follow our office.
29:16
Right.
29:16
So we have a newsletter, we have a website.
29:19
We have surveys that are out right now.
29:21
We have social media channels with so many ways
29:24
that we've established people to communicate with us.
29:27
Tell us what you're hearing.
29:28
Tell us what you're seeing, and then connect with us.
29:31
Invite us if you're having a community meeting
29:33
or if you're having a town hall, please reach out.
29:36
I'm one of those people I'm trying to get everywhere all at once,
29:40
and our team is really excited to be out there so that we can listen
29:45
and that we can learn.
29:46
But one of the best ways that we can do so is to make sure
29:48
that people are connected with our messages and stories.
29:52
And then I think the other than, you know, just the other opportunity is for us
29:56
to really think about what are we, what are we missing, what are the gaps?
30:00
That's not always an easy question to pose to others, but I think for me,
30:05
I'm coming with really open hands and arms of I'll be missing something.
30:10
Do you feel like we're off base someplace?
30:12
Because if we are, I really want to examine that.
30:15
And then I want to make sure that I can go back to our plans and strategies
30:19
and see if we have a way to fill that Puca.
30:22
Yeah.
30:23
Well, thank you again for your time, Doctor Fox.
30:26
Thank you, Randy.
30:27
And thank you for listening.
30:28
And until next time, Aloha.