As the Department of Housing and Land Management (DHLM) continues to take on an expanded role in delivering housing, stewarding public lands, and advancing conservation priorities, the department is building the internal capacity needed to do that work well. Recent additions to the team reflect a focus on experience, collaboration, and execution in service to the people of Oʻahu.
Gavin Thornton
Director of Housing Policy
In July, DHLM welcomed Gavin Thornton as the department’s first Director of Housing Policy, where he is helping establish the City’s housing policy framework and supporting long-range strategy across divisions. His career has centered on ensuring everyone in Hawaiʻi has stable housing; purposeful, dignified work; and access to essential resources that support their families’ well-being and success.
Gavin began his career as an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Hawaiʻi and later served as Executive Director of the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, where he worked for 16 years.
David Oi
Housing Finance Chief
Formerly served as Housing Finance Manager at the Hawai‘i Housing Finance and Development Corporation. He oversaw both multifamily and single-family housing programs, including LIHTC underwriting, RHRF financing, tax-exempt bonds, and the successful restart of the State’s mortgage revenue bond program to expand homeownership.
David’s work is grounded in collaborative partnerships with lenders, developers, public agencies, and community stakeholders to deliver sustainable housing solutions. He brings a strong foundation in financial modeling, program design, and policy implementation to support Hawai‘i’s long-term housing goals. Prior to working in the public sector, David spent nearly 20 years in the title and escrow industry working on a wide variety of land and property transactions.
Van Matsushige
Conservation Office Program Manager
As the Conservation Office Program Manager, Van leads a team to manage acquisitions, executes program initiatives and develops partnerships to achieve conservation goals. With over five years of experience at the State Department of Land & Natural Resources, he worked on acquisitions and due diligence for the Legacy Land Conservation Program.
Outside of work, Van enjoys playing the banjo, collecting action figures and is an avid karaoke enthusiast.
Jennifer Ontai
Land Transactions Chief
In December, Jennifer Ontai was appointed Land Transactions Chief, overseeing DHLM’s division responsible for negotiating and coordinating all real estate transactions on behalf of the City. In this role, she supports sustainable land management and affordable housing initiatives by ensuring that acquisitions and dispositions are strategically aligned with City priorities and structured to maximize long-term public benefit.
Prior to joining DHLM, Jennifer spent 10 years in private practice as a transactional and regulatory attorney, specializing in health care, corporate, and employee benefits law. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, thrifting, curating music playlists, and testing new skincare ingredients.
Jared Kuroiwa
Housing Policy Team
Jared Kuroiwa joined DHLM’s housing policy team, bringing experience from years of work in media, academia, healthcare, and local businesses, and a background in technology, data strategy, and community-focused work. He enjoys digging into data and turning it into insights that help make sense of housing needs across the island.
He is excited to team up with colleagues and community partners to support thoughtful, data-informed decisions for Honolulu’s future.
Together, these team members strengthen DHLM’s ability to move work forward across housing finance, policy, land transactions, and conservation—bringing both urgency and care to the department’s mission.
“Our department serves more than one million people on the island of Oʻahu, and that responsibility guides everything we do,” said DHLM Director Kevin D. Auger. “We are building a team with the expertise, heart, and discipline to execute at the highest level. I have full confidence in this group’s ability to deliver real results for our communities and to do the work that Oʻahu deserves.”
As DHLM continues to grow and evolve, the department looks forward to the contributions these team members will make in service to the people and communities of Oʻahu.
