Esther Puakela Kiaʻāina (born July 16, 1963) is a Native Hawaiian politician who currently serves on the Honolulu City Council as its Vice Chair and represents District 3 on the island of Oʻahu (Waimānalo, Kailua and Kāneʻohe).

She was born and raised on the island of Guam where her father served as a civilian in the U.S. Navy and later returned to her parents’ homeland of Hawai‘i, where she graduated from the Kamehameha Schools.

[1] In Hawai‘i, Kia'āina served as a Land Asset Manager at her alma mater, Kamehameha Schools, for two years before moving on in 2009 to work as chief advocate for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

To prevent a long vacancy during the United States fiscal cliff budget negotiations, Abercrombie made his decision quickly, per the request of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:[5] Schatz was chosen to fill Inouye's seat until a special election in 2014.

[7][8] In May 2016, Obama designated Kia'āina to simultaneously to also serve as his White House representative for the 902 Consultations between the United States and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.