Office of Hawaiian Affairs Ka Pouhana/CEO Sylvia Hussey will be leaving at the end of the fiscal year on June 30 to focus on her personal and ‘ohana health, OHA announced Friday.

OHA Board Chairperson and Maui Trustee Carmen “Hulu” Lindsey notified agency staff members of the planned departure by email on May 3. Hussey has served as CEO since December 2019, and was the organization’s chief operating officer since joining the agency in November 2018.

“Sylvia has worked tirelessly to lead this organization and support its mission and our beneficiaries,” Lindsey said in a news release Friday. “While we are saddened by this news, we wish Sylvia the best in her future endeavors and we cannot thank her enough for the contributions she has made to the lahui.”

Hussey, who holds a doctorate in education, is credited with leading the implementation of OHA’s 15-year Mana i Mauli Ola Strategic Plan and managing an agency reorganization which reduced overhead costs, streamlined operations and redirected resources to beneficiaries and communities, OHA said. Under Hussey’s leadership, OHA provided record funding amounts in grant awards to community nonprofits working to strengthen OHA’s strategic foundations of ‘ohana, mo’omeheu and ‘aina.

OHA added that Hussey, a certified public accountant, was instrumental in improving the financial transparency of the organization.

Colin Kippen, the current chief of staff to the OHA Board of Trustees, has been named interim CEO. He formerly served the agency as deputy administrator of the Hawaiian Rights Division.

A former trial lawyer, Kippen has served as a chief judge for Chief Seattle’s Suquamish tribe in Washington state; administrator of the Native Hawaiian Education Council; administrator of the National Indian Education Association serving all Native Americans in Washington, D.C.; a former senior counsel to the late Sen. Daniel Inouye on the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs; a former fundraiser for the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation; a former State of Hawai’i homeless director; and a former policy and government relations director for the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement.

Kumabe HR has been retained to aid trustees in the recruitment and selection of a new agency CEO, OHA said, adding that the permanent position is expected to be filled before the end of the year.