Keone Nakoa is the current Washington, D.C., bureau chief for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA). In this position, he serves as the primary liaison between OHA and the federal government as OHA advocates for the betterment of the Native Hawaiian community. Keone’s prior experience includes serving as a staff assistant, legislative correspondent and speechwriter for the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Kahikina Akaka, and working as a summer law school intern at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Before returning to D.C. to take on this new role, Keone practiced law in Honolulu specializing in complex commercial litigation and general corporate governance, including nonprofits.
Keone earned his J.D. and master’s in business administration from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and an AB in biological anthropology from Harvard University.