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Sports

When Hawai‘i Community Foundation's previous senior director of policy and public affairs departed for another position on the Big Island, 

 reached out to his network for potential candidates. 

Kāne's sister-in-law gave him the name of a former colleague: Matt Elliott, the chief strategy officer in UCLA's athletics department. Elliott had previously lived in the Islands following law school and had also met his wife, Allison, on O‘ahu. Perhaps the allure of moving back to Hawai‘i would appeal to Elliott, someone Kāne called "way overqualified" for the position.

"Coming back to Hawai‘i, I know you got some experience, but I think it could a great opportunity for you," Kāne recalled telling Elliott. 

Elliott accepted the position and moved his family to Hawai‘i. Because he was still in the middle of spearheading UCLA's move from the Pac-12 Conference to the Big Ten, he started off at HCF as a part-timer. 

Elliott's days at HCF are now numbered. He is 

set to officially become the University of Hawai‘i's new athletics director

, pending Board of Regents approval on June 16, emerging as new UH president Wendy Hensel's choice on Thursday morning.

Judging by his first staff meeting at HCF, maybe it was destiny for Elliott to get the UH AD gig.

"He came with a UCLA shirt on, and we did an introduction of him," Kāne recalled. "And he went up and he took his UCLA shirt off, and he had his UH shirt on and he said, 'This is me now.' He was just so proud to be home and to be affiliated with the green and, yeah, he's all in, man. He's all in."

Over the course of Elliott's year and a half at HCF, Kāne found himself constantly impressed by Elliott's ability to lead and collaborate with others, traits that he believes will translate well in Mānoa.

"I'm really excited about the future of Hawai‘i Athletics with Matt's leadership coming forward. I mean, you're getting a first class leader, someone who I think would qualify as a unicorn," Kāne said. "I've had to work directly with him over the past year and a half, and I've really saw someone I think in my career, I would say he's one of the top leaders that I've ever had the opportunity to work with."

Elliott will not be made publicly available to the media until he is officially appointed as UH's next athletics director. His first day, according to UH, is no later than July 1. Whenever he begins, Kāne believes he will hit the ground running. 

"He's someone that can really deconstruct complex environments. He's comfortable being uncomfortable. He's someone that doesn't blink and definitely cares deeply about Hawai‘i and the role that the university can play in Hawai‘i, the role the university athletic program can play in the university system, and really getting Hawai‘i out there," Kāne said. "We're very, very fortunate that we have a talent like that, and someone with that level of integrity and skills to be in the position. So, I'm excited for Hawaii and all of the athletes that are going to get to to be under his leadership."

During his time at UCLA, Elliott was part of a team that negotiated a 15-year, $280 million deal with Under Armour, the biggest apparel deal in the history of college sports. 

Although UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington all migrated from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten in 2024, UCLA and USC joined as fully vested members, while Oregon and Washington will receive half-shares of the conference's revenue distribution to members until 2030. The Big Ten had $928 million in revenue for the 2024 fiscal year, according to USA Today. 

With HCF, Elliott led the organization's efforts in the 

, aimed at helping Maui families live in more affordable homes. 

"Quite frankly, Matt led that work for us, and so in many ways, he was the orchestrator behind the scenes, and this is a multi hundred million dollar initiative," Kāne said. "The guy is not afraid of mixing it up and doing it in a way where you feel like it's the right thing."

Kāne, who earned his undergraduate degree at Menlo College and got his master's degree from UH-Mānoa's Shidler College of Business, remains a staunch UH sports fan. Because of a tip he received from his sister-in-law, he's ready to see his friend ascend and attempt to elevate the athletic program he roots for. 

"Probably the best thing that happened to HCF. He made a quick imprint on this place, and I thank my sister-in-law, of course," Kāne said. 

Matt Elliott 2 060525

<title>UH getting a "first class leader" in new AD Matt Elliott, says Hawai‘i Community…</title>

Elliott departed his role at UCLA in order to take a position with HCF, winning over supporters during his time leading local initiatives.

UH getting a "first class leader" in new AD Matt Elliott, says Hawai‘i Community Foundation CEO Micah Kāne

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawaii History

Imagine wandering through Nu‘uanu Valley in the late 1700s; no framed houses or churches, no golf club, no paved roads. Try to picture what it must have looked like: a lush rainforest that gives way to sweeping lo‘i kalo, the irrigated terraces where Hawaiians farmed taro, and kauhale, groups of traditional Hawaiian homes. Cool streams teeming with ‘o‘opu (goby fish) and ‘ōpae (freshwater shrimp) wove through the land. Before any paved road connected Honolulu to the Windward side of O‘ahu, footpaths traversed the valley and beyond.

In 1795, the valley saw one of the greatest battles in Hawai‘i history, Kaleleaka‘anae, the Battle of Nu‘uanu, when O‘ahu chief Kalanikupule and his 9,000 warriors attempted to defend their reign against Kamehameha and his invading army of 12,000 warriors from Hawai‘i Island. From the beaches of Waikīkī toward the top of the valley, the violent clash of armies fought desperately to conquer the opposing side. This single, bloody battle was the defining moment in Kamehameha’s attempt at bringing the Hawaiian Islands under one rule.

After the fighting was done and the bodies were buried, after the lo‘i were repaired and replanted, life returned to normal for most people. But the imprint of violence, desperation, and death remained on the land, with much of it culminating on this quiet stretch of road.

Nu‘uanu Pali Drive is the site of numerous tragedies, including the infamous murder of Therese Wilder by a pair of escaped convicts in 1948. But that’s not all.

Old Hawai‘i newspapers show that between 1949 and 1957, there were nearly 200 accidents on this two-mile stretch of pavement, with dozens of injuries and several deaths. Although this treacherous drive was known for its sharp, nearly 90-degree turns, speeders weren’t deterred and were soon caught in the clutches of the “death curve” and Morgan’s Corner.

After the Department of Transportation smoothed out the sharpest bends and built the Pali Highway, car crashes became less frequent, but the weight in the air never lifted. Morgan’s Corner and Judd Trail, both tucked along Nu‘uanu Pali Drive, soon gained a reputation for being haunted. A homicide in the 1980s and a suicide in the 1990s only deepened the sense of unease, feeding the legends that still cling to that area. To this day, thrill seekers flock to that lonely road in search of those chicken skin moments and perhaps hoping to glimpse a ghost.

Aside from the hauntings and eerie feelings along the Nu‘uanu Pali Drive, there are other things, more ancient and more spiritual.

A few years ago, I met author and paranormal enthusiast David Weatherly. David has a breadth of knowledge and a calm, cool energy about him, which makes conversations fun and enlightening. While showing him around the island, I shared some history of Hawai‘i and stories about haunted locations. I drove up Nu‘uanu Pali Drive and parked on the wrong side of the road in front of the Board of Water Supply building. There, I began to explain the Battle of Nu‘uanu and the history of the night marchers. As if on cue, a strange mist appeared before us in the middle of the road. Really strange.

It hovered in front of us like a large, floating sphere. Its lower tendrils drifted upward, then curled inward, folding back into its center as if breathing in itself.

[{"type":"text","text":"“That’s an interesting kind of fog,” David mused."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“I don’t think that’s fog,” I replied."}]

As it approached us, the mist became thicker, almost more solid-looking. Instinctively, we sat still and said nothing. The ghostly sphere seemed to move with intent as it slowly passed us, constantly churning in a slow, unnatural loop. We watched through the car mirrors as it glided into the forest and then back out again, continuing along the roadway, never dissipating, still in the shape of an odd, floating ball. We wouldn’t talk about it for the rest of the drive until we got to Zippy’s.

Then, all David had to say while nodding and chewing on his food was, “Night marchers. Had to be.”

Another witness to strange things on that lonely road is a now-retired Honolulu Police Officer and respected friend.

On a rainy November night in 2019, I received a phone call a little after midnight. It was my friend, the police officer I’ll call “M.” There was a bit of hesitation in his voice as he asked me if I could come out and bless his car.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Tonight?” I asked."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"He replied, “Yeah, right now, if can.”"}]

Without pause, I told M that I’d be right there. Since we were both up, my wife came with me, and we met him at the top of Nu‘uanu Pali Drive, where he was parked. M was supervising traffic while a construction crew worked on repaving the Pali Highway. When we arrived, M was waiting outside his car. We shook hands, and he immediately began to explain that just before calling me, he was sitting in his car and was amazed to see an army of pueo (Hawaiian short-eared owls) fly by, heading ma kai (toward the ocean) on Nu‘uanu Pali Drive. Shortly after, night marchers quietly followed the path set by the pueo.

M said he was so stunned by what he saw that he hadn’t immediately noticed the lone pueo flying around in his car, which he said was impossible since his windows were rolled up. That’s when he jumped out of his car and called me.

Though the road has changed, its history continues to linger. From ancient legends to modern tragedies, Nuʻuanu Pali Drive still carries the weight of its past as the stories of hauntings pass from one generation to the next, reminders that some places remember.

Nuuanu Pali Drive Mauka 2

<title>Beware Nu‘uanu Pali Drive</title>

Lush and beautiful as it may be, Nu‘uanu Valley also has a dark side as the site of the battle that defined King Kamehameha's Hawai‘i and as the home to infamously haunted Morgan's Corner.

Beware Nu‘uanu Pali Drive

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<title>Michèle McCoy</title>

Michèle McCoy

Government & Politics

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs aims to improve the well-being of Native Hawaiians through advocacy, research, funding and more. Here is a breakdown of the measures that would advance its mission, if approved by Gov. Josh Green.

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