Brendan
Schultz
Humanitarian
Public Servant
Non-Profit Leader
I am Brendan Schultz. Born in Honolulu, I grew up in Hawai’i and throughout the United States as the child of a US Navy Captain. I proudly attended public schools and then college on the GI Bill. I have dedicated my entire professional career to caring for the world’s most vulnerable people in their times of greatest need as a humanitarian aid worker and international development specialist. Working in communities spanning five continents, I have led human rights education programs in the mountains of Macedonia, researched inter-ethnic violence on the sands of the Kalahari Desert, taught English in the valleys of Palestine, led food distribution programs during the height of the pandemic on the streets of Los Angeles, and developed youth empowerment initiatives here on our islands.
The same motivations that led me to become a humanitarian aid worker have led me to run for Congress. Our islands lie at a point in which the people of Hawai’i must decide if we continue with the status quo or demand change. The status quo has brought polluted water, unaffordable housing, and consistent struggle for the people of Hawai’i. I am running for Congress because our islands need a leader in Washington DC that demands progressive change – and if you want a servant leader who will fight for people, planet, and peace, I would be honored to be your representative for the Second Congressional District of Hawai’i.
The Early Years
Like most military children on O’ahu, I was born in Tripler Military Hospital – the backward pink building implanted in the hills of Honolulu. In addition to growing up on O’ahu, I lived in Virginia, Washington State, Connecticut, Washington DC, and Macedonia during my childhood. I am proud to have received an excellent education in public schools throughout the United States.
As a military child during the Iraq War, my mother was deployed to Iraq and other conflict zones five times throughout my childhood. Some of my earliest memories are of my mother being deployed to Iraq and me and my family not knowing if she would return. Many Americans and I were skeptical of the justification for the Iraq War from the outset. Since 2003, we have learned that our political leaders lied about Iraq’s fictitious weapons of mass destruction. I will never forget how the leadership of the US Military and political establishment saw my mother, tens of thousands of other service members, and millions of Iraqis as expendable in the pursuit of profit.
Southeastern Europe and College
For my final year of high school, I received a YES Abroad scholarship from the United States State Department to study in Macedonia, a small country in Southeastern Europe. My time in Macedonia was the most transformational of my life. I was welcomed into my host family, my host school, and my host community with open arms.
Following my year in Macedonia, I began my university studies at Pitzer College, a Claremont College. My college experience was made possible by the GI Bill. I graduated in three years with an honors degree in politics, philosophy, and sociology.
Humanitarian Aid and International Development Work
My humanitarian career began teaching English in Palestine with Project HOPE, a local NGO in Nablus, a city in the Northern West Bank. From this work, I transitioned to researching the inter-ethnic social dynamics of high school students in Botswana to help prevent inter-ethnic violence in public dormitory schools in the Kalahari Desert. During the pandemic, I worked for IsraAID, an Israeli Humanitarian Organization, coordinating food distribution programs in California for communities that were food insecure because of the economic devastation brought by the pandemic.
Encapsulating my humanitarian experiences, I founded and serve as the Executive Director of United by Love, an international non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating cohesive communities in former conflict areas through youth development and inter-ethnic understanding programs. As the Executive Director of United by Love, I have led the organization’s programs and expansion throughout Eastern Europe. Under my leadership, the organization has empowered thousands of young people to become leaders in their communities.
Why I Am Running
for Congress
The current political establishment has failed working families, our keiki, and kupuna in Hawai’i, throughout the United States, and around the world.
The recent Red Hill fuel leaks, which the federal government and our elected leadership knew were almost certain to leak, demonstrated that the federal government has no concern for the people of Hawai’i.
From the water poisoned by the Red Hill fuel leak to the lack of access to healthcare to the impossibility of being able to afford a home in Hawai’i to our defunct public education system to the degradation of Social Security to an impending climate catastrophe, the political establishment has failed to protect our keiki, kupuna, working families, and all those who call Hawai’i home. Not all Democrats are the same. Democrats who take corporate money and have no clear policy agenda have shown that they are unwilling to put people, planet, and peace ahead of their careers.
I am running for Congress to provide a progressive alternative to the establishment politics that has failed you, your family, our community, and our islands. If you believe that we need to send a champion for people, planet, and peace to Washington DC to demand change, I would be honored to have your vote to represent Hawai’i’s Second Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.
