Political analysis through an Indigenous lens
From the land up.
I’m Kaniela Ing — a Kanaka Maoli writer, speaker, and former Hawaiʻi state legislator, raising two boys in Waiʻanae. I make the case for governance that sustains life, like our ancestors once knew — not an economy built on war and extraction.
Our ancestors did it. So can we.
21.44° N · 158.18° W
Organizing for working people — from neighborhood boards to the State Capitol to coalitions across 23 states.
Age I was elected to the Hawaiʻi House, beating an incumbent by 26 percent.
Days Lahaina Strong held Kāʻanapali Beach — and won a law letting counties phase out vacation rentals for local homes.
Secured as a freshman lawmaker for South Maui’s first public high school — Hawaiʻi’s first net-zero campus.
01 — The lens
Three ideas behind everything I do.
From the land up.
Every fight starts with the same questions: who controls the land and water, and who gets to stay. Answer those, and housing, food, and power follow.
Sustain life, not war.
Our ancestors knew a governance that sustained life. Today’s public dollars should do the same — care, food, homes, clean energy — not feed militarism and extraction.
Power, not charity.
Relief is not enough. The people hit hardest should hold the pen on what comes next — and have the organizing to keep it.
Move the money.
The U.S. now spends about $1 trillion a year on the military, and the White House has asked for $1.5 trillion next year. Drag some of it toward the things that sustain life.
Sources: defense, about $1 trillion in FY2026 counting reconciliation funds, and a $1.5 trillion FY2027 request (Akin Gump). Head Start, $12.357 billion in FY2026 (First Five Years Fund). Housing vouchers (tenant-based rental assistance), $34.9 billion in FY2026 (NLIHC). DOE clean-energy office (EERE), $1.95 billion in FY2026 (CRS). School lunch, $17.7 billion for 4.8 billion lunches in FY2024 (USDA ERS).
Director of Grantmaking & Strategic Programs, Beyond Impact
President, Our Hawaiʻi Action
Senior Fellow, Democracy Revival Center
Public Affairs Consultant
Hawaiʻi State Representative, 2012–2018
National Director, Green New Deal Network
Climate Justice Director, People’s Action
ASUH President, UH Mānoa
02 — Where I come from
My politics started at a kitchen table in Makawao.
My dad waited tables at a union hotel restaurant, then chased the business dream into finance — and made less. He did the same work as the colleagues he admired, but the families he brought in were Hawaiian, with less to invest. He died at 39 of an aneurysm that health insurance might have caught. I was eleven.
My mom skipped meals so we’d never feel poor, and somehow every Christmas felt like abundance. At fourteen I was picking pineapple on land my ancestors once tended, learning what the plantation economy asks of the people who keep it running.
That’s what I carry into every room. Working people don’t need saving. We need power — and a fair shot to “rebuild the village” and raise our kids where we were raised.
You deserve to raise your kids where you were raised.
03 — The record
Receipts.
Seventeen years of wins I helped organize, alongside a lot of people who deserve the credit. Drag through the years.
A $5 bus pass
As student body president at UH Mānoa, helped win a $5-per-semester bus pass with expanded routes for all students.
More →See every receipt as a list +
04 — Watch
Say it plainly.
From the House floor to a primary debate filmed in 480p — a few of the moments people passed along, tens of millions of times.
How to “rebuild the village”
05 — Work with me
Bring the fight for working people into your room.
Speaking
Keynotes, panels, and fireside chats that move rooms — and the people in them.
- How we win back working people
- Power, not charity: the Lahaina model
- Governance that sustains life
Writing
Essays and analysis through an Indigenous lens — on climate, militarism, democracy, and working-class politics.
- Bylines in TIME & The Nation
- Op-eds, forewords & commissioned essays
- Commentary on air & in podcasts
Strategy
As a public affairs consultant, I advise funders, organizations, and campaigns on building power that lasts.
- Coalition design & theory of change
- Grantmaking & philanthropic strategy
- Rapid-response & pressure campaigns
06 — Writing
On the record.
07 — Music
A.I.-free · 100% humanRediscovery.
New album · 11.11.26
No A.I. Every lyric written, every note played, every harmony sung by people — reggae from Waiʻanae, made by hand, together.
08 — Talk Story
Get in the conversation.
Political analysis through an Indigenous lens, straight to your inbox — plus first word on talks, events, and new music.
Bring Talk Story to your community
Host a conversation in your living room, church hall, union hall, or campus about what your community needs. Tell us about it and we’ll follow up.
Request a Talk Story →
09 — Book Kaniela
Let’s build something.
Speaking, writing, strategy, and press. Tell me what you’re working on, or grab a time on my calendar.
kaniela@kanielaing.com