About

Aloha and hello:

I’m a social entrepreneur, organizer, and itinerant politician. It’s nice to meet you.

I’m grateful to be alive and working in an incredibly consequential decade. Every day I think about the planet my children are inheriting, and it drives me to focus on the work and the world ahead.

I’m optimistic for two reasons.

First, because I believe that social movements change the world. That’s why I work with UNITE HERE Local 5, a union which focuses on building power for working people.

Second, I’m optimistic because of work I’m developing through Hawaii Federated Industries, a social enterprise strengthening Hawaii’s economy through projects in decarbonization, circularity and local manufacturing. Our first project is a plant to pull CO2 from the sky to create carbon-neutral jet fuel. We’re going to decarbonize Hawaii aviation.

In the last decade, I worked on the idea that media and journalism can enrich and uplift the public debate. In 2006 I opened Maoliworld as a social network connecting the Native Hawaiian community. I launched The Hawaii Independent in 2009 to examine issues of interest to the Native Hawaiian and local community. And I founded Summit, a luxury magazine, in 2014 to present a Hawaii view on the world. I’m a former editor of Ka Wai Ola, co-editor of A Nation Rising: Hawaiian Movements for Life, Land, and Sovereignty, published by Duke University, and have contributed chapters and essays to several publications including The Nation.

There are amazing groups doing great work in our community, and I’m honored to serve on their boards: Domestic Violence Action Center, Faith Action, Hanahauoli School, Kamehameha Federal Credit Union, and Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action. I’m an elected member of the Kalihi Valley Neighborhood Board.

I live in Kalihi Uka, and was raised in Kaneohe. My ancestral roots are in Kohala, Kona, Hilo, Ilocos Sur, Ireland and Italy. I play guitar, piano, and am learning saxophone. Please get in touch – our best work will be done together.

Aloha,
Ikaika (he/him)

+1 808 221 2843
hello@ikaikahussey.com