Nalani's Opening Remarks as co-chair of this year's Equal Justice Conference

I am Nalani Fujimori Kaina, a member of the NLADA Board of Directors, and the co-chair of this year's conference. I am honored to be this year's co-chair, but kind of assume it could be because this is the closest the conference will ever get to Hawaii.

However, because of that, we've brought a bit of aloha with us to San Diego. To open this morning, I shared an 'oli or chant. Written by Edith Kanakaole, E ho mai, asks...

Give forth knowledge from above
Every little bit of wisdom contained in knowledge
Give forth, give forth, oh give forth

It is an 'oli that is often used as an opening. For me, it helps to ground me, set me, and connect me back to Hawaii wherever I may be.

There is so much going right now where justice is needed and as we take on those difficult issues, grounding ourselves helps us to maintain our empathy for others. Coming from the land where epic flooding cut off an entire part of Kauai, lava is flowing in the middle of a housing subdivision, there was a false threat of a nuclear attack, and I just read that acid rain is in the forecast. Combine that with the hurricanes of the fall impacting Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Florida and Texas, the wild fires throughout the west, and the recent tropical storm in American Samoa. Add to that political funding uncertainties, attacks on immigrants, and inflaming of racial tensions. And did you know that last year the cicadas in DC awoke 4 years earlier than their normal cycle? Ok, so there may actual be something to be said that the apocalypse may be happening.

With everything going on, it is ever so important at these times to ground and steady ourselves, so that we may take on the task of taking care of others. 

We are an amazing and dedicated community which works together during the chaos. From the many attorneys on Kauai and on Hawaii Island reaching out to our program to see how they can help their community in light of our most recent disasters to the pro bono and legal aid attorneys who have been hard at work still helping out months after last year's hurricanes to those assisting with insurance claims after the massive wild fire to the images last year of attorneys in mass at major airports after the immigration ban and the many many other attorneys who are helping in this time of unexpected disasters, we continue to unite to help others. 

On a daily basis, our community also helps tens of thousands of people with their civil legal needs just so that they can have their basic necessities met, to keep themselves and their families safe, and to ensure that justice prevails.

Along the way, we develop empathy. To feel for those around us, to see the difficult (and sometimes impossible) choices that need to be made, to not know how our clients continue on despite all of the barriers in their way. For all of us here, life could not exist without it.

Recently, in my attempt to understand more clearly our work with Microsoft in the development of the statewide legal access portal, I read Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's Hit Refresh. He's been acknowledged as bringing a new approach to Microsoft, built around empathy. He talks about one of his interviews when he first applied to join Microsoft, the interviewer asked:

As I read, I thought of our advocates and attorneys who work tirelessly to meet the impossible demands for service. We had empathy. We had tons of empathy. We see the best and worst of human nature. It has always fueled our work.

So, how do we operationalize it to the next level? And if the head of a multinational company sees value in what we do everyday, why shouldn't others? How do we use our common experience to shape the world in new ways, to use this strength to change the world? How do we find balance so that the sheer impact of everything around us doesn't stop us from moving forward? 

As this 2018 Equal Justice Conference starts, there are a multitude of opportunities to learn about new innovations, new ways of thinking, and how to do our work better. I'd plug some sessions here, but don't want to get into trouble with Don Saunders and Steve Scudder, the wizards behind the curtain. 
Over the next few days of learning, I hope that we find ways to use our empathy as our strength and also find ways to use this conference to ground ourselves with this amazing community all around us so that we can continue to do awesome work.

In Hawaii, we are a mixed stew of cultures built on understanding each other. We've found ways to blend and shape together a culture of aloha. We mixed up a war-time staple of Spam with rice and nori to create the Spam musubi long before Roy Choi made the Korean Taco famous. One of the traditions in our culture comes from the Hawaiian practice of ho'okupu or offerings and a Japanese practice of omiyage or bringing of gifts. To that end, we have brought some treats from Hawaii to thank you and honor you for all that you give. This year, we've brought a Hawaii delegation of sixteen, legal service providers, pro bono attorneys, Judiciary staff, the friendliest (and loudest) law librarian in the country, IOLTA board members, bar leaders, and our Chief Justice to this conference and the Access to Justice Chairs conference on Saturday. I'm grateful for their support and help in these gifts to you. Wearing our scarves and ties, please be sure to get some chocolate macadamia nut candies, bumper stickers, or Kauai salt from one of our delegation as you leave this morning's session. Please also say hello throughout the conference.

Aloha Kakahiaka and E Komo Mai, good morning and welcome to this year's 2018 Equal Justice Conference.