Virtual Interview: Miki Tomita, Founder & CEO, Education Incubator How has your organization been able to continue its core mission(s)? Our core mission is to empower young people to create change now, to contribute to a better world as part…
Virtual Interview: Jud R. Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer, Maui Behavioral Health Resources How has your organization been able to continue its core mission(s)? Maui Behavioral Health Resources is an umbrella organization for three nonprofit agencies: Maui Youth & Family Services,…
Virtual Interview: Lani Go-Keala, Executive Director and Kahealani Rivera, M.D., Board President, American Heart Association Hawai‘i Division How has your organization been able to continue its core mission(s)? Rivera: The mission of American Heart Association Hawai‘i Division remains vital especially…
Virtual Interview: Sam Church, Executive Director, Family Promise of Hawai‘i How has your organization been able to continue its core mission(s)? Our mission is to help homeless and low-income families in Hawai‘i achieve sustainable independence by mobilizing existing community resources…
Virtual Interview: Katie Chang, Executive Director, Center for Tomorrow’s Leaders How has your organization been able to continue its core mission(s)? Our first priority was to continue leadership development for the 600 students in our leadership programs in high schools…
Virtual Interview: Katherine Don, Executive Director, Honolulu Biennial Foundation How has your organization been able to continue its core mission(s)? This crisis has brought our board together to reflect on our mission to empower the arts in Hawai‘i; to articulate…
Virtual Interview: Rachelle Chang, Executive Director, Samaritan Counseling Center Hawaii How has your organization been able to continue its core mission(s)? Mental health is an essential service and is more important than ever. We continue to offer mental health counseling…
Virtual interview: Todd Cullison, Executive Director, Hawai‘i Nature Center How has your organization been able to continue its core mission(s)? Hawaii Nature Center is continuing its mission to foster awareness, appreciation, understanding and stewardship of Hawai‘i’s environment through interactive and…
Virtual Interview: Anna Neubauer, President and CEO, Hawaiian Humane Society How has your organization been able to continue its core mission(s)? Our core mission has always been to improve the welfare of animals and to help maintain and nurture the…
The bank’s Aloha For Hawaii program supports local restaurants and nine local nonprofits, including Blood Bank of Hawaii, Child & Family Service and food banks statewide First Hawaiian Bank has now made it easy to support local restaurants and local…
We are continuing to publish stories researched and written before the COVID-19 crisis, such as this one. We want to feel someone really hears us, and that they get what’s going on,” says Darcy Ing, a part-time clinical psychologist for…
How are you coping amid the COVID-19 crisis? Right now, I give myself grace and practice understanding. We are navigating unchartered waters with this global pandemic, and new updates come in throughout the day. This means decision making is challenging,…
Blood from babies’ umbilical cords at birth can be used instead of bone marrow transplants to save the lives of patients with diseases such as leukemia, lymphoma and sickle cell anemia. And the cord blood does not need to match…
Siletha Hubbard moved to Hawai‘i from North Carolina in 2014 to be closer to her daughter. Two years later the monthly rent on her Waikīkī apartment was raised by $400. “I’m just living on Social Security. I have no pension,”…
Kiley Adolpho, 39, says she tried for years to become a carpenter, but found there was a lot of competition and the field was male-dominated. “I tried to apply for part-time jobs, or full-time jobs when I was between jobs,…
Nonprofit’s programs for high school students reflect Hawai‘i’s diversity The Center for Tomorrow’s Leaders looks for high school students who don’t fit the leadership stereotypes. Executive Director Katie Chang says CTL empowers “nontraditional” leaders who are often less likely to…
Laureen Kukino, 56, is legally blind in her right eye and has only a quarter of her vision remaining in her left eye. The retired Family Court bailiff lost her sight in an accident involving children and a stray volleyball…
In January, La‘a took over as CEO of the nonprofit that has supported adults and children with disabilities in Hawai‘i for 72 years. Her main goal is to seamlessly integrate people with disabilities into the community, so they can live…
The holidays have a way of inspiring people to reach across the divides that often separate us. And Giving Tuesday, which is right in the heart of the holiday season, is sure to bring people together again in 2019. For…
Moloka‘i is known as The Friendly Isle, but the nonprofit Moloka‘i Child Abuse Prevention Pathways is teaching students about uncomfortable issues and another dimension to friendship. “The MCAPP teachers taught us all about suicide and bullying,” says ‘Ohi‘aku Ritte Camara…
“I feel more hopeful due to the help I’ve received from Parents and Children Together,” says Nannette Fritz, 41, a single mom of two young girls. “They gave me a full-time job so I can support my family. It’s a…
“In many ways, Goodwill has changed my life,” says Stefani Bindes, 42, a convicted former drug addict. “They knew my background – all the struggles and challenges I’ve gone through – and they were willing to take a chance on…
Kalamaikamala Elouise Margaret Sylvester, 26, moved from American Samoa to Oahu when she was a young child for corrective leg surgery. She lived with her biological aunt and her aunt’s husband. “I was sexually abused by my aunt’s husband at…
The organization serves thousands of Native Hawaiians each year, but its scandals, infighting and negative image often overshadow its good work. Here’s a look inside OHA and how its problems are being addressed. For 16 years the staff of nonprofit…