Daniel Sharp

Background

About Daniel Sharp

Known to many as Kaniela, Daniel moved to Oahu from SoCal in 2007. With more than 22 years of experience in financial management, he is currently fulfilling his life’s passions in serving the Native Hawaiian people as the Dir of Fin at Keiki O Ka Aina (KOKA) He earned a BS from Texas A&M before being commissioned in the US Marine Corps. As a Captain he served for 10 yrs as an Air Traffic Control Officer where he managed the ATC Facility at MCAS El Toro in SoCal. He is a veteran of the first Gulf War and served on the General’s staff for the 3rd Marine Air Wing supervising the top secret and cryptographic depts Following his time in the armed forces he served for 15 years as the CFO and Ops Mgr for an international religious organization. During that time he earned his MMin from St Michaels Seminary with a focus on nonprofit operational and financial management. As an Adjunct Professor of Church History and Religious Ritual & Liturgical Practices he had the opportunity to travel to many continents and nations of the world During his travels to the Hawaiian Islands he discovered the “other Hawaii” and fell in love with its native people and culture. In 2007 Daniel and his family moved to Oahu where he worked as the Asst Controller for an international government contractor for the U.S. Defense Dept Returning to Texas, the place of his birth, to assist a family member recover from a near fatal car accident, he conducted internal and forensic audits of a 3rd party administrator providing tax sheltered account administration for over 400 public schools nationwide On his return to Oahu he was employed by Hawaii Maoli as its Operations and Fiscal Mgr. It was at this time he was welcomed into the Native Hawaiian community through the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs founded by Prince Jonah Kuhio in 1918 In 2011 he joined KOKA as its Controller and Preschool Administrator. He served as the Dir of Fin and eCommerce Mgr for Hawaii Health Connector in 2014