Chelsie Evans named HCA executive director

Hawaiian Community Assets (HCA) recently announced that Chelsie Evans is the organization’s new executive director.
WAILUKU — Hawaiian Community Assets (HCA) recently announced that Chelsie Evans will lead efforts going forward as the organization’s new executive director.
Jeff Gilbreath, who served as interim executive director for the past year and previously led the organization from 2011 through 2019, will now focus exclusively on his role as executive director for Hawaii Community Lending (HCL), HCA’s partner organization.
The announcement comes at an exciting time for HCA and HCL, as they have established the nation’s first and only network of Financial Opportunity Centers on all four islands and seen a 200 percent increase in the amount of affordable loans provided over the last two years.
Together, the two organizations work to build the capacity of low- and moderate-income families, especially Native Hawaiians, to achieve and sustain economic self-sufficiency by increasing income, building assets and securing affordable housing.
At HCA, Evans will direct the organization that runs Hawaii’s largest Department of Housing and Urban Development-certified housing counseling agency, serving over 1,500 local residents annually with free financial counseling, income supports and career coaching.
Helping Native Hawaiian and local residents fulfill their dreams of homeownership is a natural job path for Chelsie.
As the former executive director of Maui Hui Malama, an organization that focuses on eliminating barriers for at-risk youth, she has a deep empathy for what many Native Hawaiians face on a daily basis. She has overcome challenges in her own life, and housing security has been a consistent barrier.
Her struggles to secure housing while raising her son as a teen mom, and through job loss while taking care of her medically fragile daughter, have not been an easy road. It is these experiences that have led Chelsie to the doorstep of Hawaiian Community Assets, ready to serve and advocate for Hawaii’s people.
With her roots in Makawao, Chelsie has traveled among the islands and has had the privilege of working with the Pana’ewa Hawaiian Homestead community in advocacy for community development with Lili’uokalani Trust.
From there, she moved on to other organizations that helped her to grow as a Native Hawaiian leader and provided her the opportunity to serve survivors of domestic violence, keiki displaced from their homes, and youth with barriers to their educational and career goals.
Chelsie’s keiki, Tre’, Lhaia, and Violet, have been the core of her desire to serve the community. While being a mom, she balanced her college classes, eventually earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Human Services. She spoke at national symposiums for social justice and domestic violence, and founded Wrapped in Wings, an organization that supports critically ill children and their families.
In 2019, she was offered and accepted the experience of being the executive director of Maui Hui Malama.
At HCA, Chelsie is committed to creating a thriving community that gives people options for the life experiences that Hawaii has to offer.
“My desire is to be part of a larger community that unveils the inequities that Hawaii’s people have to go through. I hope that my experience — both personally and professionally — can help in closing the housing gap, lifting our people in demanding to be a part of change, and to deliver high-quality financial and housing programs that are of the utmost need for our community,” she said.
As a 501(c)(3) community development nonprofit and HUD-certified housing counseling agency, HCA has a range of options for local families experiencing hardship or pursuing economic opportunities, from financial counseling and career coaching, to access to debt consolidation and down payment loans, and emergency grants and loans made available by HCL.
In addition to its online presence, HCA runs four Financial Opportunity Centers on Maui, Oahu, Kauai and Hawaii Island. At the centers, HCA’s professionally trained financial counselors provide benefits such as renter and homebuyer workshops, individualized financial counseling, and access to grants and loans. With 12 counselors, HCA offers the largest number of HUD-certified counselors in the state.
For more information, contact HCA toll-free at (866) 400-1116, or visit www.hawaiiancommunity.net.