Making an Impact

An assessment, report, and convening about the impact investment pipeline in Hawaiʻi.

This project connects students, academia, and industry in a meaningful way, so that students in Hawaiʻi can find work in Hawaiʻi, thereby helping to mitigate the brain drain.

At an accelerating pace, the 21st century will continue to usher in unprecedented risk to humanity's fundamental goal: peace. Global climate change, dwindling biodiversity, and fickle water resources are among the chief environmental challenges that will increasingly undermine peacebuilding efforts -- from the community level to the global arena. When resources are stable and relationships are sound, communities are poised for peace. The world, however, is entering an era in which the environment and uncertain resource supplies will require stronger bonds between communities and common understandings of climate risks. The Institute for Climate and Peace advances effective and inclusive processes to build peaceful and climate-conscious futures for the most vulnerable.

The vision is a community where health, wellness, and happiness thrive in every home. They aim to attain partnerships, and educate keiki from Waimea to Kualoa. The foundation held community meetings focusing on dialysis and overall health and wellness.

This initiative is a rapid prototype to learn how to address systemic digital and broadband inequities in Hawaiʻi in response to COVID-19. It utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach by working on immediate acquisition and distribution of hardware directly to keiki and ‘ohana in need, as well as developing a statewide network to provide broadband access to rural communities. The initiative also works with lawmakers and critical decision-makers to advocate for policies that remove the barriers preventing communities from accessing technology.

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Keoni Lee of Hawaiʻi Investment Ready (HIR), Ashley Lukens of Next Gen Donor Hui (NGH), and Lisa Maruyama of Hawaiʻi Alliance of Nonprofit organizations (HANO) joined forces to launch the Kūkulu Switchboard - a platform created to enable a timely resource exchange that provides a clear and aggregated view of community needs statewide. The Kūkulu Switchboard was created to enable timely resource exchange through a facilitated digital peer-to-peer network. Asks and offers for resources (financial, human, or otherwise) are posted, categorized, and searchable to easily connect with needs. The Switchboard will curate and import from other platforms, centralizing information and resources that would otherwise be siloed.