Josh Stanbro, who became the City and County of Honolulu’s first chief resilience officer on May 1, is tasked with building out a strategy to strengthen Oahu’s and its individual residents’ capacities to deal with shocks and stresses in this ever-changing world.

His appointment stemmed from voters in 2016 approving City Charter Amendment 7, establishing the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency.

On Election Day on Nov. 8 nearly two years ago, I was streaming the results online, and I was in complete shock. That day changed my life.

Recently, I sat in the mayor’s conference room with Stanbro and Andrew Pereira, information officer for the Office of the Mayor. Stanbro has spent nearly his entire career working in the private nonprofit world. So I asked him what triggered his move to the public sector.

He let out a big sigh and said, “Honestly, it was the November election.”

I knew where he was coming from because that moment changed my life, too.

“Knowing at that point that the federal government wouldn’t be … setting standards that hold emissions in check suddenly made me realize that we all have to mobilize and dedicate as much time and talent as we can at the state and city level to do this ourselves … and take responsibility for our own future,” Stanbro said.

On June 1, President Donald Trump announced he would withdraw the country from the Paris Agreement on climate change. He said that the unprecedented agreement, established in December 2015 at the 21st Conference of the Parties and signed by 168 nations, was unfair to the citizens of the United States.

Four days later Stanbro experienced his most rewarding day on the job. Gov. David Ige and the mayors of Kauai, Hawaii, Honolulu and Maui counties pledged their commitment to uphold the Paris climate accord together.

They weren’t alone. Hundreds of other governors, mayors, legislators, CEOs, teachers and entrepreneurs are driving change from the bottom up. Fourteen states and Puerto Rico have signed on to the U.S. Climate Alliance, reaffirming their commitment “to contribute to the global effort to address climate change.” And, over a dozen companies have pledged billions of dollars in low-carbon investments.

On Wednesday, the State Climate Commission convened its first meeting to define what a climate action plan would look like, how do we track greenhouse gas emissions at the local level and what a commitment to the Paris climate accord means to each community. In the work I do at Elemental Excelerator, deploying new technologies that help to make Hawaii more resilient, we believe local communities are the right instrument of change. It’s where culture is established, where emissions are created and where change is felt.

Before Stanbro jetted off to an evening Palolo Neighborhood Board meeting, I asked him how he chose a mission-oriented career path.

He thought back to his experience sailing from Honolulu to Rarotonga. Stanbro had just finished college and was looking for a way to get down to Australia. His parents being sailors, he knew the practice of putting a 3-by-5-inch card on a bulletin board saying “Deckhand, willing to go anywhere south.”

A few days later he got a call from the captain of an escort boat accompanying the Te Aurere — a Polynesian voyaging canoe from New Zealand modeled on the Hokule‘a — back to the Cook Islands. It was the first time that Stanbro, who grew up in Northern California, was exposed to the story of Polynesian migration and traditional seafaring in the Pacific.

It was then that he realized that passionate, innovative people can overcome unbelievable odds, and that is the essence of resilience. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once said, “People with passion can change the world.”

In Stanbro’s position today, leading the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency for the City and County of Honolulu, he works to empower people to build the capacity within themselves and their communities to adapt to change.

He’s not doing this alone. Stanbro and his staff want your input via an online survey (bitly.com/oahu resiliencesurvey) or in person at an upcoming neighborhood board meeting.

In the Hokule‘a’s return to Oahu after a three-year voyage around the world, master navigator Nainoa Thompson said: “You can’t protect what you don’t understand, and you won’t if you don’t care. And you can’t do it by yourself.”

Lauren Tonokawa is head of the communications team at the Elemental Excelerator. She’s a graduate of the University of Hawaii. Reach her at laurentonokawa@gmail.com.