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Former President Barack Obama stressed the importance of cultivating the next generation of leaders during a speech Sunday night at the East-West Center that harked back to his roots as a community organizer in Chicago. Appearing at ease, he spoke about the importance of values-based leadership and the need to work across borders and cultures to solve the world’s most pressing problems, while also throwing in a few jokes to a rapt audience of about 150 people.
The private event was the culmination of several days of workshops with 21 emerging leaders throughout the Asia- Pacific that his foundation brought to Hawaii to help develop a larger leadership program for the region. In addition to the young leaders, the event was attended by local politicians and business leaders including Gov. David Ige, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell.
“It’s so good to be home,” said Obama as he began his remarks, joking that if it wasn’t for the University of Hawaii, where his parents met, he wouldn’t exist.
Obama, who was born at what was then called Kapiolani Hospital in Honolulu, also threw in a joke about the conspiracy theories that had circulated during his presidency that he was born in Kenya. President Donald Trump was perhaps the most prominent promoter of the baseless claim.
“There are rumors that I was born about a mile from here. I have a birth certificate,” Obama said to laughter. “I cannot vouch for the fact that I was born here because I was very small at the time. But people who were there say it’s true.”
The bulk of the former president’s remarks, which lasted about 20 minutes, focused on the work of the Obama Foundation, which has launched several leadership programs. Last year it brought together 200 leaders from around Africa for an ongoing leadership training program.
The foundation is now embarking on a similar program for the Asia-Pacific, in which Hawaii is expected to play a central role. Two of the leaders who are part of the Asia-Pacific leadership group are from Hawaii: Kaleo Manuel and Kealoha Fox. The young people come from 16 countries and territories including Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. They represent a range of professions, such as artists, government officials and business executives.
“Most of the problems that we face in the world, we face not because we don’t have good technical solutions. We know how to educate poor children. We know how to fix the environment. We know how to provide economic opportunity to communities that have fallen behind,” said Obama. “What prevents us from implementing those angles is a lack of human organization, a lack of leadership. And when I say leadership I don’t just mean some politician up top, although that’s important. But I also mean people at the grassroots, people at the local levels who are able to inspire and motivate and mobilize communities to effectuate the changes that need to take place.
“So we have a deficit of leadership, and we need new blood.”
Obama’s remarks were characteristically optimistic, and striking in their contrast to the turbulent political climate of the past two years, which have included bruising partisan battles. His foundation’s work is nonpartisan.
Obama said that his goal is to continue to expand his foundation’s network of leaders throughout the world.
“If we can start with a few thousand and then a hundred thousand and then a million of those young leaders from around the world, nothing can stop us,” said Obama.
He said that the focus of this week’s workshops was to listen to the emerging leaders from the Asia-Pacific to hear what they needed to be successful — rather than him and the foundation telling them what they need.
“One of the principles that I used to teach when I was a community organizer is the power of listening,” he said. “If you want to lead, listen.”
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