As a young girl, Kamahanahokulani Farrar-Law could never sit still. Like many children of the 1960s, she spent her time riding her bike, playing football, dancing hula, swimming, and skateboarding. She was not the scholar of her three siblings, but she had passion and drive.
Farrar-Law’s passion and career in public service have led her to her current job as interim Executive Director of the Wing Luke Museum, a role she was appointed to by the museum’s Board of Trustees in September 2024, after the departure of previous director Joël Barraquiel Tan. The Wing is a museum dedicated to the culture, art and history of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, and Farrar-Law is the first Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander person to serve as its leader.
Farrar-Law was raised on east Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, and spent summers on the Big Island with her grandparents, picking coffee. As a kid, she couldn’t understand why her mother would send them away with her grandparents for so long.
Her mother would say, “because I want you to know where you come from.”
Years later, in 1976, Farrar-Law prepared to leave Hawaiʻi and become the first in her family to attend college. But her mother, afraid and uncertain to let her go, struggled with the decision.
“My mom finally agreed that I could go to college if I one day came home and helped my people,” Farrar-Law said. “And never forget where I came from.”
Though she hasn’t always lived in Hawaiʻi, Farrar-Law has kept her culture close and made career choices driven by her love for home.
Farrar-Law completed her undergraduate studies at Pacific University in Oregon. She graduated with a degree in Recreational Therapy and started working with people with disabilities. She went on to work in nonprofits and for her school district in Oregon, where she lived for 22 years.
Farrar-Law always valued education. She credits her passion and thirst for knowledge to the books she read when she was young, which was why leaving Hawaiʻi the first time was important for her.
“Books open your world to see how different people are,” Farrar-Law said. “It was a big world out there. To be able to go to college, it was not about having an education from books or school, it was about being exposed to life.”
During her time in Oregon, Farrar-Law knew she wanted to continue her education. But with three little kids at that point of her life, she found it hard to justify.
“I kept getting promoted in my job, and at that point you have to pick,” Farrar-Law said. “Do you want to do something that you love, or do you need to earn money to take care of your family?”
After 22 years in Oregon, Farrar-Law finally decided to attend graduate school. She wanted to begin working on behalf of Native Hawaiians, and made a drastic change.
“I took a $10,000 cut in pay right before my kid had to go to college,” Farrar-Law said. “[People said] ‘What are you doing?’ ‘I’m gonna get my dream job.’”
Farrar-Law began her graduate studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2002. As she earned a master’s in Human Resource Management, Organizational Development, she began working in Native Hawaiian healthcare.
“I started doing volunteer work in the small town that I lived in, which is Waiʻanae ,” Farrar-Law said. “It’s on the west side of Oʻahu and primarily the largest population of Native Hawaiians on that island.”
After earning her master’s degree and working diligently in Native Hawaiian health, more opportunities opened.
“I got a cold call one day from a man who used to be a project officer for the federal grant I was responsible for,” Farrar-Law said. “He asked me to move to Washington, D.C. and work for his team. It was a pretty big honor to me because it was during the Obama administration.”
Farrar-Law accepted and took a job in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services in D.C. She later followed her boss to the Department of Health and Human Services.
“I got to learn how to write a public health policy, which is important to me because if I was going to serve Native Hawaiians, I need to understand how federal money works, how policies work,” Farrar-Law said. “So that I could work smarter and harder on behalf of my people.”
But after four years, in 2016, Farrar-Law received a call from colleagues in Hawaiʻi urging her to move back.
The founding director of local nonprofit Nā Pu’uwai had fallen ill. Located on the island of Molokaʻi, Nā Pu’uwai focuses on researching chronic diseases affecting Native Hawaiians and improving their health.
Farrar-Law did not want that job. But she remembered the promise she made to her mother when she first moved away for college.
“I felt like I had a duty to my agreement, my promise to my mom and then to my people,” Farrar-Law said. “Whether or not I was having a great time in Washington, D.C., I took a $40,000 cut in pay and I moved home.”
Farrar-Law didn’t know how to be an Executive Director at first. She found it challenging, as she was in charge of community work, administration, and operations. She regrets her decision now, but felt she didn’t have a choice. Being executive director was something she had to do, Farrar-Law said.
Farrar-Law was still executive director when the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020— a challenging period.
“Imagine being on a rural island. If I went to Oʻahu, which was a bigger, populated island, I could go through a drive-through at a drugstore and get a COVID test for free,” Farrar-Law said. “If there was a COVID test on Molokaʻi , I would have to pay $200 [to] fly to the other island.”
Farrar-Law’s passion for public health stems from two things: the impact of colonization and the state of public health in Hawaiʻi .
“As an adult, I was exposed to attempts by the government to say ‘We’re really sorry we stole your land and all your people are sick and dying…so we’re going to give you a little bit of money, then it’s your job to get the Hawaiians healthy again,’” Farrar-Law said.
As Executive Director of Nā Pu’uwai, her government-issued priorities were to tackle diabetes and vaccine distribution. However, Farrar-Law found during her time in the community that is not what Native Hawaiians needed.
“Every month, a Native Hawaiian man committed suicide,” Farrar-Law said. “We were off the charts for drug addictions, we were off the charts for sexual assault against children. So how can I run a health center to talk to you about diabetes when you can’t even sleep at night because someone is potentially going to hurt your child?”
Following her position with Nā Pu’uwai, Farrar-Law came to Seattle to support her daughter. She saw an opportunity with the Wing Luke Museum, and began working as senior director of Finance and Operations, where she oversaw the museum’s Finance, Human Resources, Museum Services, and Technology and Infrastructure departments.
“Two weeks into my job was when we had an attack on the museum,” Farrar-Law said. “Which was pretty devastating, not just for me, but for the organization. That was kind of my introduction to Seattle.”
About a year after the attack, in mid-September, Wing Executive Director Joël Barraquiel Tan announced he was stepping down from the position, and Farrar-Law was appointed interim Executive Director by the museum’s Board of Trustees. Though she was still reluctant to fill another leadership position, Farrar-Law stepped up.
In doing so, she became the first Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander person to serve as Executive Director of the Wing.
Tan’s departure came months after public controversy over language in an exhibit led to a staff walkout and the closure of the museum for part of May and June. A group of museum workers walked out protesting an exhibit which they said falsely equated calls for Palestinian solidarity and critiques of Israel as terrorism and anti-Semitism. The walkout made national and international news.
“I couldn’t bear to see [the museum] struggle and suffer more,” Farrar-Law said. “During a period of transition and loss it’s really difficult. So I am just trying as much as possible to see how much I can stabilize.”
Farrar-Law will continue to serve her interim role until the museum appoints a new director, and despite the challenges, she has an optimistic attitude.
“Many people today are losing their jobs or may have jobs they don’t enjoy,” Farrar-Law said. “I might not have my favorite inspiring supervisor anymore that I loved on the East Coast, but I do have colleagues I get surrounded by and learn something new everyday.”
Farrar-Law tries to take time to view the Wing’s exhibits on a regular basis.
“When I first got here I told myself I had to make time to walk through the museum,” Farrar-Law said. “It’s so easy to be caught up in work but the museum is full of inspiring beautiful stories.”
