One of the core tenets of trust-based philanthropy is that funders should “ask and act” on feedback. In that spirit, HCF staff held Community Convenings in May and June 2022, to solicit perspectives on the CHANGE Framework—from its current data to its application. Nonprofits and community leaders across the state were invited to participate in the virtual convenings, with close to 400 people participating. No statewide discussion at this scale had ever been attempted by HCF previously.

The vision of the CHANGE Framework is that by engaging stakeholders around common data and shared goals, we can achieve collective action on systemic issues to improve the overall well-being of Hawai‘i’s islands and people.

“Our core intention is to center the community in developing a long-term vision and theory of change for each of the sectors of the CHANGE Framework,” says Larissa Kick, vice president of Community Grants and Initiatives at HCF. “If we can do that, then we can co-create strategies that can help us drive change with long-term, lasting effects.”

Participants were divided into separate virtual breakout groups for each CHANGE sector, based on self-selection during the registration process. After the convenings concluded, HCF staff in each sector team compiled reports of what they observed and learned during the breakout sessions.

Then, each CHANGE sector team had more gatherings in smaller groups, in the form of open-house events, site visits, face-to-face meetings, and virtual convenings.

For the “A” in CHANGE, the Arts and Culture sector, for example, an open house was held in September 2022 at HCF’s headquarters at the C. Brewer Building in Downtown Honolulu. Approximately 45 people attended, including nonprofit, community, and government leaders.

“We asked attendees about our draft vision statement for the sector, what was resonating with them, and what might be missing,” explains program director Elise von Dohlen. Similar events were held in Kahului, Maui, as well as virtually to include as many nonprofit partners as possible.

Some common themes developed across sectors, including sentiment on the prevalent factors that are contributing to inequity such as high cost of living and the digital divide. When it came to key opportunities in the community, participants shared that our strengths are the inclusion of indigenous practices and knowledge, connection to place, and collaborative partnerships between organizations.

All sectors shared that they need resources and training to support capacity building for effective data usage, from data collection, to accessing publicly available data, to data analysis. As one participant put it, most members of community-based organizations are wearing multiple hats: “Individuals try to do it all with little to no support.” In short, all sectors want more focus on meaningful data that measures long-term impact and supports community efforts.

As a next step, each CHANGE sector will synthesize the feedback and create a long-term vision and theory of change that reflects the expertise and perspective of those doing systems change work throughout Hawai‘i. HCF will integrate this vision as we refine the CHANGE Framework, ensuring it is both grounded in data and community-informed to address Hawai‘i’s most pressing needs. “We’re looking for ways we can support the community and uplift the work that is being done,” says Kick.

To learn more, check out this summary of the CHANGE Community Convenings.

At its best, childhood can be a carefree and happy time, with children free to explore, learn, and grow in a safe environment. But things don’t always go as planned.

In Hawai‘i, nearly half of all children (an estimated 46 percent) will at some point experience an adverse childhood experience, such as physical and emotional abuse, household violence, caregiver mental illness, or neglect. As a result, almost a third of children in Hawai‘i are at risk for behavioral or developmental issues or delays.

“In the past, there was often a gap when it came to caring for young children’s mental health needs,” says HCF Promising Minds program director Justina Acevedo-Cross. “There are times when a child and perhaps their families need significant treatment. If we invest in care early on, it can yield a positive ripple effect throughout a child’s life.”

That’s why she’s excited about the establishment of the Hawai‘i state Office of Wellness and Resilience (OWR), newly created in 2022 to improve the ways that trauma-related issues are addressed statewide, particularly for children ages 0 to 5.

The OWR is the first of its kind in the nation. In addition to building Hawai‘i’s trauma-informed care resources, the office and its staff also aims to:

• Connect with state departments, medical health facilities, university researchers, and cultural practitioners to better understand data trends in Hawai‘i’s health system.
• Host an annual wellness and resilience summit.
• Propose and support trauma-informed and resilience-related legislation.
• Work to establish new practices to improve outcomes when it comes to child welfare, mental health, and criminal justice in Hawai‘i.

Tia Hartsock, the executive director of OWR, says, “There are groups already doing a good job of helping people in the community. Our goal is to listen, honor what works, and build upon that. How can this new agency fill in those puka that could be useful for organizations?”

The OWR is, in many ways, a successful outcome of the work that Acevedo-Cross, HCF, and its public and private partners have been cooperating on over the past several years to improve early childhood behavioral health throughout the state.

In 2019, HCF launched Promising Minds, a public health initiative aimed at equipping early childhood educators, caregivers, and service providers with the necessary trauma-informed tools, strategies, and support to help ensure that Hawai‘i’s vulnerable children develop healthily and stay on track.

“The vision was to develop an inclusive mental health system for keiki to kūpuna, with specific services and support available for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers,” Acevedo-Cross says.

HCF and Promising Minds helped organize a network of more than 100 healthcare providers, therapists, social workers, and other early childhood professionals equipped to offer trauma-informed care, which means recognizing and responding to signs of trauma to better support patients’ health needs and create a culture of safety and healing.

In addition to working to increase the number of mental health providers and hosting professional development events, the Promising Minds team connected with legislators and advocates for support through policy changes.

The Trauma-Informed Care Task Force, an advisory group under the state Department of Health, was created in 2021 as a way to bring experts together who could make recommendations for trauma-informed care statewide. This task force then led to the creation of the OWR in 2022.

“I believe that the vision OWR is developing—to bring together people, agencies and organizations that deeply care about Hawai‘i—holds promise for a future that focuses on community well-being,” says Acevedo-Cross. “I see signs of progress already, including the State of Hawai‘i winning some competitive federal mental health grant awards. The success of OWR will grow and we will all be better off because of it.”

In late 2021, Jeff Gilbreath was just about maxed out. He had spent almost two years leading nonprofits Hawaiian Community Assets and Hawaiʻi Community Lending through a time of pandemic and economic downturn as their executive director, and the stress was taking its toll.

“We were deep in COVID response,” he says. “I was running two organizations, and it was just really overwhelming. I think [leadership burnout] is one of those issues that doesn’t get talked about a lot.”

Indeed, Hawai‘i’s best nonprofit leaders give their all to their organizations as they tackle some of the Islands’ toughest challenges. But, while these leaders do an exceptional job caring for others, they often have a harder time caring for themselves.

For the past two decades, the Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s Ho‘okele Awards have addressed this issue, recognizing the hard work of Hawai’i’s most dedicated nonprofit executives, and giving them financial support to rejuvenate themselves personally and professionally.

“We know that, to keep people in this profession, and to stabilize the nonprofit sector and its leadership, we have to invest in those leaders,” says Michelle Ka‘uhane, senior vice president and chief impact officer of HCF. “This award is about embracing and lifting up leadership through service, and reminding those leaders that they deserve a break.”

The annual recognition, which is given to mid-career nonprofit leaders, includes a $10,000 award to be used for self-care. Ka‘uhane says the idea is for honorees to use the award to recharge in whatever way most meaningful to them. That could include travel, a vacation to spend quality time with family, or even paying for home renovations that they’ve been putting off.

Gilbreath received his Ho‘okele Award in 2021, and decided to use the funding to travel to Ireland and trace his ancestral roots. Learning about his family history, their connection to the land, and the history of colonization in Ireland gave him a powerful sense of connection to his work with the Native Hawaiian community in the area of economic equity, he says.

“It gave me a path to really recommit to the mission and think about the importance of this work, providing tools and resources that can unlock affordable housing and living-wage jobs for Native Hawaiian families,” he says.

In 2022, HCF celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Ho‘okele Awards. Named for the ho‘okele, or steersman, of a voyaging canoe, the program was founded in 2002, modeled on a similar program run by the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation.

HCF’s previous president and CEO Kelvin Taketa says the original awards program was the brainchild of Tom Layton, the former executive director of the Gerbode Foundation.

“Tom was a nationally recognized leader among foundation executives in the US, and we were fortunate to have him and the Gerbode Foundation as our partners,” Taketa says.

In addition to the money and recognition, Ka‘uhane says the awards program has fostered an informal network of nonprofit leaders that support, encourage, and inspire one another. Nominations for awardees come from past recipients, as well as HCF board members and staff members. Looking to the future of the program, Ka‘uhane says she would like to see HCF develop more opportunities for connection.

“We’re thinking about how to build more synergy, more networking, and a cohort of peer-to-peer mentoring and support.” she says. “It’s not just about that night of celebration, but bringing them together to share the struggles, the challenges, and the victories of executive leadership.”

To learn more about the Ho‘okele Awards Program, including a list of all past awardees, visit our website.

When Duane Kurisu, a Hilo-born-and-raised businessman and philanthropist, first leased the C. Brewer and Co. Building to the Hawai‘i Community Foundation in 2011, he did it with the goal that HCF would use the historic space to make Hawai‘i better for everyone, a mission HCF has steadfastly pursued since its own inception in 1916.

“I wasn’t just looking for a tenant, I wanted a partner,” Kurisu says. “There wasn’t anybody more deserving of this building than the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, because, together as partners, we brought collaboration and accessibility together.”

Built in 1930 in the financial district and piko (center) of downtown Honolulu, the C. Brewer and Co. Building was one of the original “Big Five” company headquarters, making it emblematic of Hawai‘i’s long-running plantation era. When it came time to update and renovate the building, in 2021, Kurisu and HCF’s leadership wanted to be intentional in creating a gathering place where community members, nonprofits, donors, and many others can come together and collaborate.

“This is an important time, because it’s a new beginning to bridge the divide in our community,” Kurisu says. “Erasing that divide—whether you have money in your pocket or not, whether we’re Hawaiian, or haole, or Japanese, or Korean, we’re all same same.”

For the renovation, while preserving the building’s distinctive features, HCF built in additional meeting spaces, a media room for creating content, technological advancements to conference rooms, and a new, welcoming lobby experience with art and visual displays, including work by Sig Zane’s Hilo-based design firm, Sig Zane Kaiao. Every update works to create a community resource in the heart of the Honolulu business district that can support the work HCF has done to create a thriving Hawai‘i with its partners today—and into the future.

“HCF has been supporting Hawai‘i’s people and places over a century—and we hope to do this humbling work for another century,” says Micah Kāne, HCF CEO and president. “Collaboration and inviting people into the conversation is critical to meeting our long-term vision of making a better Hawai‘i for everyone here in our islands. As an organization, we know that we’re greater as a combined, collective force in our efforts to solve systemic challenges.”

HCF completed its renovation in 2022, reopening to the public in July. At the blessing ceremony, that month, Peter Ho, president and CEO of Bank of Hawai‘i and chairman of HCF’s Board of Governors, said he looked forward to seeing what the next chapter of the foundation would hold.

“When you think about the things that happen in these walls, the decisions that are made, the lives that are changed for the better, the futures and trajectories improved—it's amazing what the people in this building do and have done for many years,” Ho said. “To be able to bring this building up to the luster it so richly deserves, to make it more functional and create additional capacity, is an incredible opportunity.”

HCF is proud to share the newly renovated C. Brewer and Co. Building with three partners that are strongly committed to making a positive impact in Hawai‘i’s communities.

• The Hawai‘i Executive Collaborative serves as a convener and backbone organization to accelerate the impact of the collective leadership of CEOs and top decision makers, building resilience for Hawai‘i’s people.

• The Hawai‘i Data Collaborative supports government, nonprofit, and private sector organizations to respond to Hawai‘i’s pressing challenges by building data capacities and catalyzing a data culture.

• The Holomua Collective works to make Hawai‘i more affordable for all working families, focusing its efforts on building cross-sector relationships, providing public education, and advancing public policies that make affordability possible.

Donor Advised Funds

Donor advised funds allow maximum flexibility to recommend grants for the benefit of the community. Donors contribute to the fund as frequently as they like and recommend grants when they are ready.

Residential real estate brokerage Hawaiʻi Life established the Mealoha Kraus Legacy Fund in memory of a cherished colleague who fought a short, brave battle with breast cancer, passing at the age of 42. She left behind her husband Chris, son Connor, daughter Faith, sisters Kealohanui Browning and Mililani Browning, and mother Denise Nakanishi, all of whom now help direct grants to support causes close to Mealoha’s heart, including food assistance in local communities.

Legacy Gifts

Legacy gifts provide lasting support to communities and honor an individual’s passion for making a difference beyond their lifetime. Legacy donors choose to leave a gift to the community in their will or trust, creating a legacy for a particular cause for generations to come.

Driven by a desire to make a difference in the lives of those in her community, Blyth Kozuki has set up a legacy gift with HCF, which will establish three funds, the Blyth Kozuki Scholarship Fund, which will provide post-secondary scholarships to Hawaiʻi students pursuing a degree in social work, the Francis Michael Poʻai Fund, to support the Washington Place Foundation and its work with Hawaiian culture, and the Robert Satoshi Kozuki Fund, to support the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation Cancer Center.

Scholarship Funds

Scholarship funds help Hawai‘i students achieve their life goals by making a college degree more attainable, and unlocking their academic and professional potential.

Bob Kubota and his wife Lynn are the current owners of Pono Market, a longtime, multi-generational-family business on Kauaʻi’s east side. They set up a scholarship to honor Bob’s parents, Minoru and Kiyoko Kubota. The scholarship is awarded each year and benefits graduates of Kapaʻa High School, the alma mater of most of the Kubota family.

Field of Interest Funds

Field of interest funds enable givers to benefit a particular cause or group of people. When organizations or charities serving that specific field change, merge, or cease to exist, this type of fund can adapt and evolve to continue to serve its purpose effectively.

Years ago, Gladys Tsubouchi, future grandmother to the children of financial advisor Gregg Takara, became seriously ill and needed care she couldn’t receive in Hawaiʻi. A person-in-need grant from HCF enabled her to get the off-island treatment she needed, and Gregg never forgot the impact it made on his family. He has now established the Gladys Fund in her honor of his late mother-in-law, to support other patients on Kauaʻi who need to travel off-island to seek medical care.

Catalyst Fund

Catalyst Fund contributions provide funding for operational support that enables HCF to address critical issues by convening key stakeholders, creating meaningful partnerships, and establishing shared goals to promote systems change for a better Hawai‘i.

Peter and Vicki Merriman, owners of Merriman’s restaurants across the state, have long been champions of making the Islands a sustainable place to live and work—helping to pioneer Hawaiʻi Regional Cuisine and building an economic base for local farmers, ranchers and fishers. With their consistent support of HCF’s Catalyst Fund, beginning in 2015, the Merrimans demonstrate their commitment to a better Hawaiʻi—always with a big-picture perspective.

Private Foundation Services

HCF’s private foundation services, which include grantmaking and administrative assistance, can help individuals, families, or corporations carry out their charitable missions effectively and efficiently

The Charles & Mitch Ota Foundation has created a scholarship program to support Maui County students who have been part of the AVID program, a college prep elective course for those who wish to pursue higher education. Many of the students are the first generation of their family to attend college, and all attend state Department of Education public high schools. Each cohort of Ota Scholars is provided with a renewable scholarship for four years at $20,000 per year. For the 2023/2024 academic year, the foundation is marking an important milestone, with the first two Ota Scholars graduating from college in 2024.

Funding Partnerships

Funding partnerships pool resources, including knowledge, funds, and connections, to enable diverse groups of people with shared goals to make a larger impact than any one of them could do alone.

The Coldwell Banker Island Properties Foundation Fund is supported by donations made by Coldwell Banker agents and staff throughout Hawaiʻi. To date, it has granted over $222,000 to programs in the community that provide housing and youth support, and it remains committed to creating a better Hawaiʻi today in the areas of community development, housing attainability, and environmental preservation.

For Anne Abaya, one of the best things about retirement has been the extra time she has to pursue one of her passions: helping other women thrive. The former global human resources executive for General Electric now regularly coaches women to help them prepare for job interviews.

One of the women Anne previously coached graduated from the YWCA’s work furlough program and re-entered the workforce. With the skills she learned while in prison, training service dogs, she was able to land her first job after the program. “It’s impressive what these women can overcome if they’re given the chance,” says Anne.

Her husband, Allen Abaya, also enjoys volunteering—paying homage to his Hawaiian ancestry by working as a guardian at ‘Iolani Palace. “It’s a special place with a long history,” says Allen.

In addition to their volunteering efforts for causes and charities they care about, five years ago the Abayas approached the Hawai‘i Community Foundation seeking the best ways to support their five main charitable interests: Hawaiian and Japanese culture, kūpuna (elder) care, the environment, service animals, and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) initiatives for girls. They wanted help honing their focus, to direct their contributions to the places where they will have the most impact—now and well into the future.

Jen-L Lyman, HCF’s senior director of gift planning and advisor relations, says the Abayas exemplify the philanthropic ideal of generosity—giving time, talent, and treasure to support the causes they care about. “They have such a heart to give back to others for all of their blessings,” she says. “They have a real connection to their giving; they want to know how the money is being used and see the impact it’s making.”

The Abayas opened two charitable funds with HCF: a donor-advised fund that allows them to respond to immediate needs at nonprofits including the Friends of ‘Iolani Palace, Assistance Dogs of Hawai‘i, YWCA of O‘ahu, and Kōkua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services.

Then, through a gift in their trust and upon their passing, the Nohara-Abaya Family Fund, an endowed field-of-interest fund, will be established to support each of their charitable passions in perpetuity. “We know they will still have funds coming to them in the future, when we’re both gone,” says Allen.

Lyman says that legacy gifts such as the Abayas’ make an incredible impact on the foundation’s grantmaking capabilities. “Thanks to the generosity of legacy donors of all sizes through the years, we’re currently able to provide $30 million in grants each year from funds created through legacy gifts to support vital programs for the community."

Anne says she appreciates how HCF has assisted their philanthropic goals, leveraging their donations and helping to vet potential recipients. “They seem to be the eyes and ears throughout Hawai‘i,” Anne says. “If you are interested in something, either the person you’re talking to knows about it or can quickly find out for you. They have offices on all the islands and their staff is very connected to the community.”

To learn more, contact one of HCF’s philanthropic advisors at [email protected] or (808) 566-5560.