Eva Andrade in her office at St. Stephen Diocesan Center in Kaneohe. (HCH Photo: Anna Weaver)
Bridge builder
Eva Andrade has been advocating for Catholic-Christian values in isle politics for close to 30 years
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Toward the end of a voting information night at One Love Ministries in Kakaako on Oct. 19, Eva Andrade told a story about her father as a way to explain why Christians need to advocate for their values with kindness.
Her dad, Jim Andrade, was working in his front yard one day when a local politician, who lived in the neighborhood, came jogging by. Jim didn’t like the way that representative had voted and shouted a negative comment at the man.
Whenever the representative saw Andrade’s father after that, the politician avoided him. And while Andrade said that her father had every right to free speech, he also lost an opportunity to build a relationship with the elected official.
“We wear Christ like a garment, and people when they are in our presence, should smell the fragrance of Jesus,” Andrade said. “They should be smelling good stuff on us.”
And that is the approach she takes in her role as both the president of Hawaii Family Forum, a nondenominational Christian lobbying group, and as the executive director of the Hawaii Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the Diocese of Honolulu.
She has been connected to the Hawaii Catholic Conference since 1994, first as an administrative assistant, then as a board member, and, since 2019, as its executive director.
Her work at the Hawaii Family Forum started in 2001 when she became its director of communications and administrator. She took over as president in 2012.
As far as Andrade knows, Hawaii is the only state where the leader of both the Christian and the Catholic public policy groups is the same person. While Andrade is employed by Hawaii Family Forum, the Hawaii Catholic Conference is one of its major contributors. The Diocese of Honolulu also gives her an office at St. Stephen Diocesan Center.
Eva Andrade and other Hawaii Catholics legislated against physician-assisted suicide in the 2017 legislative session. (HCH Photo)
Air Force journeys, island roots
Eva Andrade’s father, Jim, is from Maui, and her mother, Florence, is from Missouri. The two met and married while Jim was in the Air Force. They had Eva’s two older brothers in Missouri. Eva and her younger brother were born while the Andrades were stationed in Germany. The family settled back on Oahu when Eva was 2.
Eva and her family have been parishioners at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Pearl City since 1965. She attended Palisades Elementary School in Pearl City before going to middle school at Our Lady of Good Counsel School. She attended high school at the now-defunct Star of the Sea High School.
Andrade says there is a strong Portuguese Catholic influence on her upbringing.
“Our family was very much a family that would discuss issues,” Andrade said, with an emphasis on “discuss.” “And you can well imagine that our family didn’t always agree on the issue.”
“And so, what I’ve learned is to be able to listen to what somebody has to say about an issue, even if I don’t agree with them. But being able to see them the way Jesus sees them and to just have that conversation.”
Andrade followed her father into the Air Force, enlisting after high school. After two years in the military, she was honorably discharged and returned to Hawaii. A brief marriage blessed her with a daughter, Aimee, now 39. Later, she had a second daughter, Rachel, now 31.
She worked as an administrative assistant at American Express Travel until 1994. That’s when Andrade’s sister-in-law, Tina Andrade, a Catholic Charities Hawaii employee, told her about an opening for the assistant to then-Father Marc Alexander, the leader of the Hawaii Catholic Conference.
“All of my expertise was in my ability to communicate,” Andrade said. That and her previous work at AmEx Travel with accounts receivable/ payable and administration.
To get a more formal education, she also studied for her associate’s degree in political science at Leeward Community College. However, she wasn’t quite able to finish the degree due to tuition costs on a single mother’s budget.
Catholic public policy work
At the Hawaii Catholic Conference, Andrade became Marc Alexander’s “righthand woman,” going with him to the legislature and learning firsthand about local politics and religion. They also bonded over a shared love of databases and computer systems before those were common work tools.
Alexander pushed Andrade out of her comfort zone, having her research and report back on issues, draft documents and more.
“I would tell him, ‘I don’t have a degree, I shouldn’t be doing this,’” Andrade recalled. “And he said, ‘This has nothing to do with a degree. This has to do with experience and knowledge, and I believe you have both.’”
She found it fascinating to watch Alexander in action, for example, with reporters trying to steer an interview.
“He was amazing at answering the question that was trying to get him off key and getting right back to what he wanted to say,” Andrade said.
Eva Andrade speaks at an Oct. 19 voting information night at One Love Ministries in Kakaako. (HCH Photo: Anna Weaver)
Around 2001, the Hawaii Catholic Conference went from being a staffed to an unstaffed office. That’s when Andrade went to work for Kelly Rosati, the then-director of the Hawaii Family Forum and she has continued with the forum ever since.
Under Rosati, Andrade learned about grace under fire.
“Kelly could sit there across from Planned Parenthood, and they would respect her and love her just because they knew that even though they disagreed on the issue, she was able to really meet them heart to heart,” Andrade said.
In 2019, when Deacon Walter Yoshimitsu retired as the head of the Hawaii Catholic Conference, Andrade took over that role as well.
Those that know and have worked with Eva Andrade say she is approachable, genuine, upbeat and accessible.
Democrat State Sen. Les Ihara Jr. has known Andrade since she was Father Alexander’s assistant. While he has been on the opposite side from Andrade on certain issues, he has also aligned with the Hawaii Family Forum and Hawaii Catholic Conference on other issues such as anti-gambling initiatives. He says he appreciates talking to Andrade whenever he sees her around the state capitol.
“My relationship with her is the ideal type where we can respect each other and actually like each other,” Ihara said. “Even though we are far apart on policy issues, the affinity is still there, which is really what’s missing on the mainland [in politics] especially.”
He said that the Catholic Church’s theme of “caring for people” is one he can get behind, and Andrade presents her positions authentically and courteously.
“I tell legislators, ‘You know, we may agree or disagree on certain things, but at least be aware of what it is,’” said Ihara. “Sometimes people disagree but are not quite sure what it is [they are disagreeing on.]”
Finding common ground
“Eva can help articulate a view of that in a way that others can get. And they can agree or disagree, but it’s easier to find common ground.”
“We may not have mutual agreement, but we have mutual understanding,” Ihara said.
Republican State Rep. Lauren Matsumoto often aligns with issues for which the Hawaii Family Forum and Hawaii Catholic Conference are lobbying. But she’s also seen Andrade get along with the opposition.
“She works really well at the Capitol in reaching across the aisle and explaining points of view, even on those really controversial issues, very clearly and in a respectful and understandable way,” Matsumoto said. “I think that’s one of Eva’s greatest strengths.”
She added that Andrade’s one-to-one meetings with politicians add a “personal touch that really goes a long way.”
Father Mark Gantley, the Diocese of Honolulu’s judicial vicar, chats with Eva Andrade in his office at St. Stephen Diocesan Center. Andrade’s office is just across the hall. (HCH Photo: Anna Weaver)
Over at the diocesan center
Andrade’s collegial and trustworthy reputation extends from the political to the religious realm. For example, when the office next to the diocesan tribunal opened up at St. Stephen Diocesan Center, judicial vicar Father Mark Gantley asked if Andrade would take the space.
It wasn’t just because the two are friends, but because Father Gantley knew he could trust Andrade about any private tribunal matters she might overhear next door.
Andrade jokes that her office fits the slogan, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” in terms of her being able to serve as a confidential sounding board.
“That’s why 5 minutes can become 20 minutes because someone will go in there and vent,” she laughed.
“She helps me with understanding the politics of what’s going on locally,” Father Gantley said.
Andrade in turn will get clarification from him on moral and canon law as it intersects with politics. Recent topics they’ve discussed have been alkaline hydrolysis, or liquified cremation, and politician Nancy Pelosi’s being denied communion for supporting abortion rights.
Father Gantley said he and Andrade are usually on the same page when it comes to political and religious issues and also relate to each other from being the same age. The priest trusts Andrade to the extent that she gets to use the tribunal’s prized robot vacuum in her office, and she is listed as the second agent on his advanced healthcare directive.
Doing the work
Another diocesan staffer who trusts Andrade is vicar general Msgr. Gary Secor. He has worked closely with Andrade over the years through the Hawaii Catholic Conference and says she is “rock solid in terms of her values and understanding of the Catholic Church.”
“I think she’s well respected at the Capitol even among politicians who don’t have our same values because she’s respectful and tries to do whatever she can to be supportive of them too,” he added.
“She’s very clear about what our values are but she states them in a very good way.”
That includes, for example, explaining that while the Catholic Church is opposed to abortion, its goal is to support women facing unexpected pregnancies.
“I enjoy working with her, and I often call her for advice,” said Msgr. Secor. “Or she lets me know about things that are going on.”
The priest says Andrade has been a bridge between Catholics and other Christian denominations with her work at Hawaii Family Forum. Father Gantley has also seen that.
“It’s very ecumenical in that sense to have this office straddle [Catholic and Protestant lines],” Father Gantley said. “What we have in common as Christians is greater than any differences. Eva really has a foot in both realities pretty effectively.”
In her work, Andrade does a lot of research and makes visits to the state Capitol to lobby in person. She also submits testimony on bills that her groups are for or against. Since COVID-19, that includes virtual and written testimony in addition to testifying in person.
Another regular part of her work is fundraising on behalf of Hawaii Family Forum, which is a 501c3. And, as a one-woman office, she handles the HFF website, correspondence, mailings, finances, reports and more. She also conducts election-year surveys of local politicians.
Neither the Hawaii Family Forum nor the Hawaii Catholic Conference can endorse political candidates, but Andrade works on behalf of both groups to lobby for their Christian-Catholic values.
Hawaii politics is dominated by the Democratic party, with Republicans in a “superminority.” Abortion and same-sex marriage are well-established in the state. And while Andrade continues to speak against them, her focus is on legislation affecting social issues like housing, homelessness, health and poverty.
Recent matters before the state legislature that Hawaii Family Forum and the Hawaii Catholic Conference have opposed include the legalization of physician-assisted suicide, marijuana and gambling.
“As Catholics, I always remind people that a true Catholic is neither Republican or Democrat,” Andrade said.
What’s changed, how to adapt
It can feel lonely lobbying on Catholic-Christian beliefs, and Andrade says it has gotten lonelier in the almost 30 years she’s worked in public policy.
“Before, there would be a bunch of us testifying on these issues. Now, sometimes it’s just me and maybe a few other people,” she said. “And it’s hard because we know that we’re standing for Gospel values. We know we’re standing for what the church believes. We know that there are a lot of people who stand with us, but people are just tired.”
Something else that has changed over the years, she says, is the rise in “political bullying” from both sides of the aisle.
Andrade has seen plenty of negative criticism and even death threats come into the Hawaii Catholic Conference over the years from those opposed to the church’s stance on issues.
“But I think what’s worse is the friendly fire,” she said. “I cannot tell you how many times somebody on our side of an issue will be mad because I’m not doing enough or I’m not doing it the way they think I should be doing it.
“And then the next phone call will be from somebody who thinks I’m doing too much.”
Andrade discusses local political issues as they intersect with faith on the Hawaii Family Forum’s podcast, “The Triple F Show: Faith and Family First,” with her co-host Jim Hochberg, an attorney and president of Hawaii Family Advocates. The show is on YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, and one Oahu and one Kauai radio station on Saturdays, but it will soon switch to a daily 15-minute format.
“The reason we’re doing the podcast is because, after all these years, I’ve told people that we aren’t going to make much of a difference at the Capitol anymore,” Andrade said. “And I think that what we need to do is provide a place for people to talk about things.”
It was with her podcast co-host, Hochberg, that Andrade led the October voting night at One Love Ministries.
At the event, Andrade went over the Hawaii Family Forum voter’s guide, and Hochberg dove into some details about proposed Honolulu city charter amendments.
During question time, Andrade responded to an upset woman who said she was a Republican and would never trust a Democrat.
“Stop looking at us versus them and start bringing our faith into the public space,” Andrade said.
Remember that politicians are human beings, she added. And while voting, “before you do anything, close your eyes and pray.”
Andrade brings that perspective into her public policy work every day.
