Hawaiʻi Rising

This week, we're uplifting a community initiative to create fire-free homesteads with Nā Leo o Papakōlea Firewise in partnership with Kaheāwai Media. Together, they produced the Creating Fire-Free Homesteads  civic action toolkit, an extensive multimedia web resource with video clips, templates, and other resources. Noel Shaw and Anuhea Kanealiʻi are members of the Firewise committee of Nā Leo o P...

A conversation with Laura Toyofuku-Aki from Project Koa Yoga and Kāhealani Collins from Kalauokekahuli about how each of their hui works in support of collective wellbeing and liberation. Project Koa Yoga educates, trains, and mentors a generation of resilience-centered health educators, equipped to reintegrate the people, land, and culture of Hawaiʻi through a trauma-informed lens. Kalauokekahuli...

Happy Juneteenth! In this episode, we’re resharing highlights from an interview from 2024 with Dr. Akiemi Glenn and Jamila Jarmon from the Pōpolo Project. Founded in 2017, the Pōpolo Project is committed to redefining perceptions of Black people in Hawai‘i and creating a deep reconnection to themselves as individuals, to their community, to their ancestors, and to the lands that sustain them. List...

A conversation about loko iʻa restoration and transformative ʻāina-based education with Hanohano and Maile Naehu, who are the head kiaʻi loko and the program director respectively at Hui o Kuapā. Based in the ahupuaʻa of Kūmimi on the east end of Molokai, Hui o Kuapā educates local and global communities about Native Hawaiian biocultural resource management through the restoration, use, and mainte...

Community new for June 2026! After headlines, we share exciting updates from two HPF partners working to restore loko iʻa (fishponds) and addressing multiple crucial issues in the process: rebuilding regenerative food systems, protecting water, facilitating community healing, restoring cultural practice, and more. First, we have Loke Aloua, one of the poʻo of Hui Kaloko-Honokōhau, sharing updates...

This multi-grantee episode features two organizations that foster youth voices and leadership through the voices of ʻōpio themselves! First, we hear from the film crew behind the short film "Never Nothing," which premiered at the 2026 Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) ʻŌpio Film Fest in April. These four ʻōpio – Heavenlee Botelho-Sarcedo, Marley Davidson, Zara Speicher, and Alana Creps – p...

Hawaiʻi Rising is excited to share an interview with Tina Aiu, executive director of HPF partner Kīpuka Kuleana, from the KKCR show Talk Story Radio Kauaʻi, hosted by Angela Zusman. Mahalo, KKCR, for this collaboration! In this conversation, Tina discusses the land trust model as an exciting vehicle for systems change as well as the specific work of Kīpuka Kuleana. The full interview can be found...

Community news for May 2026: in this episode we hear updates on grassroots response and recovery work since the Kona low storms in March.  We start with two short status updates sent in by partners: Jessica dos Santos (Kūpaʻa Kuilima) has been active with the Lāhui Foundation community hub in Kahuku, Oʻahu. Camille Kalama (Koʻihonua) in Waiawa kai, Oʻahu, shares about the flooding impacts in her n...

After the back-to-back Kona low storms in March brought catastrophic flooding to multiple islands, our communities immediately leapt into action to support those most impacted. Over the past few weeks, we’ve witnessed grassroots community resource hubs, donation drives, supply deliveries, and boots-on-the ground volunteer work happening in a big way. In this episode, we have two short updates from...

A conversation with James Auld and Pua Summer from Mutual Aid Lāhui. Mutual Aid Lāhui empowers the lāhui through education, advocacy, and mālama ‘āina and mobilizes to flank community events and relief work. The Mutual Aid Lāhui crew are passionate about feeding the Lāhui and providing support where it’s needed most. Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

Community news for March 2026! After headlines, we feature interviews with two HPF partners advocating for their communities during this legislative session: First, Cameron Miyamoto (co-president of PFLAG Oʻahu) shares about PFLAG Oʻahu's participation in the 2nd annual Queer Day at the Capitol on February 17 and about HB 1875, a bill to protect access to gender-affirming care. To learn more about...

A Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi episode featuring ʻĪmaikalani Winchester, lead organizer for the annual celebration of Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea at Thomas Square, with guest host Hina Kaʻōpua Canonigo. Also check out our past English-language episode with the organizers of Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea Honolulu. Ma kēia hualono, kamaʻilio ʻo ʻĪmaikalani Winchester e pili ana i ka moʻolelo o ka Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea. Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'...

An ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi special episode from 2023 with guest host Krisha Zane.  He kamaʻilio ʻana me Tanya Mailelani Naehu (Hui o Kuapā) e pili ana i ka hana o kona hui i ka loko iʻa ʻo ʻŌhalahala ma ke ahupuaʻa ʻo Kūmimi ma ka mokupuni ʻo Molokai.  For our English-language episode with Maile and Hanohano Naehu, see episode 1. Hui o Kuapā: Restoring Fish Ponds on Molokai. Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

In addition to fresh episodes in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi this Hawaiian Language Month, we're resharing this special episode in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi featuring Dr. Kū Kahakalau and Pōlani Kahakalau, with guest host Pualiʻi Rossi. Also check out our past English-language episode with Dr. Kū and Pōlani about EA Ecoversity. Ma kēia hualono, kamaʻilio ʻo ʻAnakē Kū Kahakalau lāua ʻo Pōlani Kahakalau e pili ana i ko lāu...

We kick off Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi with a special episode in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi featuring Pualiʻi Rossi, the president of I Ola Wailuanui, with guest host Brad Watanabe. Also check out our English-language episode about I Ola Wailuanui with Pualiʻi and her fellow board member Mason Chock. Ma kēia hualono, kamaʻilio ʻo Pualiʻi Rossi e pili ana i kona aʻo ʻana i ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi a me ka hana a ka hui ʻo...

A conversation about ʻāina stewardship with Kekupuloa Kim from ʻĀina Kōnea. ʻĀina Kōnea is a grassroots hui with the mission to restore the reciprocal ea between the kānaka and ʻāina of Wahiawā by way of cultural revitalization. They care for a kīpuka in the forest of Wahiawā Uka along a section of Kaukonahua Stream known as Kuaʻikua. Website: https://www.ainakonea.org Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawa...

Community news for January 2026! After headlines, we feature interviews with updates from two long-time grantee partners: ʻĀinaaloha Ioane, the executive director of the Keliʻi William Ioane Legacy Foundation, shares the latest milestones in the efforts of the King's Landing community to secure long-term leases on the homestead lands they have lived on for decades. Kami Yamamoto and Lauren Taijero...

A conversation about protecting ʻāina with Jessica Dos Santos and Lillie Makaila from Kūpaʻa Kuilima. Kūpaʻa Kuilima is dedicated to advocating for responsible and pono development on O’ahu’s North Shore from Waialeʻe to Keana, elevating and protecting the ‘āina by holding it sacred, staying rooted in place, and reviving ancestral traditions. Linktree: linktr.ee/kupaakuilima Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i...

How are organizations in Hawaiʻi addressing the need for sustainable and abundant food systems to feed our island communities? In this issue area episode from the spring, we hear from three community partners working toward the restoration of Hawaiian food systems, in particular through the foundational practice of uhau humu pōhaku (Hawaiian drystack masonry). First, we hear from Keʻalohi Wang at...

Community news for December 2025! After headlines, we feature interviews with two Maui Aloha grantees organizing in Lāhaina: First, De Andre Makakoa from Lāhaina Strong shares about community organizing after the 2023 wildfire as well as the 2025 documentary Lāhaina Rising, which won the Made in Hawaiʻi award at the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival. Second, Carolyn Auweloa from the Lāhaina Comm...

Today is Lā Kūʻokoʻa, the Hawaiian Kingdom’s Independence Day! On this day in 1843, the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was officially recognized as a sovereign nation by Great Britain and France in the Anglo-Franco Proclamation. In this special episode, we speak with ʻĪmaikalani Winchester to hear the history behind Lā Kūʻokoʻa. ʻĪmai is a lead organizer for the annual celebration of Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea at Thomas...

HPF and our partners are on the radio! In this special episode, we share a recording of a live radio show on KKCR Kauaʻi Community Radio highlighting our Kauaʻi-based grantee partners through a pop-up broadcast from Hale Līhue. Hosted by KKCR's executive director Anni Caporuscio, the broadcast features Akira "Kiki" Katsumata-Smith (Rice Street Business Association), Pualiʻi Rossi-Fukino (I Ola Wai...

A conversation with Nikki Cristobal, Ashley Mahaʻa, and Makanalani Gomes about the Missing and Murdered Native Hawaiian Women, Girls, and Māhū (MMNHWGM) movement. The MMNHWGM movement and research work is a focus of Kamāwaelualani, a Kauaʻi-based grassroots organization dedicated to Native Hawaiian public art, education, and community activation. Kamāwaelualani undertakes this work to re-connect H...

Our first monthly community news episode! In each news episode, you'll get community headlines followed by two interview segments sharing timely updates from our partners from across all our grantmaking programs. Our November 2025 episode features updates from two hui who demonstrate that community takes care of community: Mōʻī Kawaʻakoa from Holomua Outreach shares about their urgent organizing w...

An interview about building up communities' capacity to heal their own lands with Kauʻi Lopes, Hannah Hartmann, and Kaʻimi Kaleleiki. Earth RM is a Hilo-based nonprofit with a mission to develop, implement, and share accessible bioremediation solutions to heal communities, lands, and waters affected by environmental pollution. Bioremediation involves allying with microbes, fungi, and plant communi...