About Us

Ke Keʻena Kūpaʻa Mauli Ola: Our resilience is in our wellness. This is the ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) name that was gifted to us as the Office of Wellness and Resilience. It translates directly, and the arrangement poetically asserts that our resilience is rooted in our wellness.

History

Gov. David Ige signed Senate Bill 2482 in July 2022, creating the nation’s first statewide-legislated Office of Wellness and Resilience. It is now known as Act 291. The Office was founded in January 2023 with Gov. Josh Green’s appointment of Tia L. R. Hartsock as its inaugural director, and became fully staffed about six months later in June.

Our Kuleana

The kuleana (responsibility; privilege) of the Office of Wellness and Resilience is to strengthen our state service systems, using hope-centered principles as strategies to make Hawai‘i a trauma-informed state. We break down barriers that impact the well-being of Hawai‘i’s people – from keiki to kūpuna.