Lani Dawson Arena

Lani Dawson Arena is a Native Hawaiian and former attorney who comes to GovContractPros after having served as the Director of Advocacy for the Hawaiian Native Corporation where she directed their government relations activities. She has served on the Native Hawaiian Organizations Association (NHOA) Board of Directors since 2012 and she served as President of the NHOA Board from August of 2017 until December of 2022. As President, she led the efforts of NHOA to defend, support and advocate for the Native 8(a) program. Those efforts have resulted in significant legislative and regulatory changes that have been extremely beneficial for Native Hawaiian Organization (NHO)-owned 8(a) businesses. In December of 2022, she became Vice-President of the NHOA Board. From 2015-2021, she also served on the Board of Directors and Policy Committee of the Native American Contractors Association which advocates regarding Federal contracting issues on behalf of NHOs, Alaska Native Corporations and Native American Tribes. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Stanford University and a Juris Doctor from the University of California Los Angeles School of Law.