ABOUT GENE
"The mission of my office is to make Hawaii Kai and the State of Hawaii a better place to live. This means my office is to solve problems & deliver solutions in a timely fashion. My office will answer emails and phone calls within a 24-48 hour period and do its utmost best to be a professional, friendly, and effective go-between for the people and government and government and the people."
LEGISLATIVE EXPERIENCE
Representative Gene Ward has served in the Hawaii State House of Representatives from 1990-1998 and 2006-present. He has served as the House Minority Leader (1993-1997, 2011-2012, 2018-2020), the House Minority Policy Leader (2022-2024), and currently the House Minority Caucus Leader (2025-present). Additionally, he is the co-founder of the Small Business Caucus alongside former Representative David Stegmaier, which has been active since its founding in 1993.
Representative Gene Ward is a veteran of the Vietnam War. He has served as a presidential appointee under the Bush Administration in the USAID Office of Democracy and Governance as a Senior Democracy Adviser from 1999-2004, promoting democracy throughout the world after writing text on the ills of campaign finance for developing countries. Following this, Ward served as the Peace Corps' Country Director of East Timor from 2005-2006, where he supervised the humanitarian efforts of 46 Peace Corps volunteers, 18 staff, and a $1 million budget.
MILITARY & FEDERAL EXPERIENCE
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Representative Ward has served as a member of the East-West Center's Board of Governors, selected by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In his home district of Hawaii Kai, he has served as the Chair of the Transportation Committee for the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board. He is also a member of the Hawaii-Indonesia Chamber of Commerce.
Ward co-founded the Hawaii Entrepreneurship Training Development Training Institute alongside Dr. George Kanahele. As the Small Business Development Specialist, he trained 3,000 young professionals in Hawaii and overseas jump-start their own businesses.
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He received his Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii and completed a dissertation on the values and attitudes of Hawaiians entering and succeeding in business. He has also taught at Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific University as an Adjunct Professor.
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As an author and commentator, he has written a number of articles about business and politics and has authored a text on campaign finance and a commentary for the Honolulu Advertiser: "Money in Politics" published by USAID in English and Spanish.
OTHER ACCOLADES
FUN FACTS
Rep. Ward's hobbies include jogging and learning new languages. He can speak Malay, Indonesian, and Vietnamese.