Hawaiʻi Rising

Jaerick Medeiros-Garcia and Blake McNaughton are the president and vice president of Makahanaloa Fishing Association on Hawaiʻi Island. Makahanaloa Fishing Association seeks to grow and protect their community’s rights to provide food for their families and maintain the generational bonds to the treasured shoreline areas of Hilo Palikū. The Association is currently trying to establish permanent an...

An interview with sisters Nikki-Ann Yee and Brandy-Lee Yee, the founders of Maʻi Movement Hawaiʻi. Maʻi Movement Hawaiʻi is a locally grown organization committed to ending period poverty in Hawai’i through service, advocacy, and education. Their mission is to provide and distribute free menstrual products to menstruators in need, while advocating for systemic change in the government, schools, an...

In today’s special episode, HPF takes you to Keaukaha on Hawai’i Island, where we joined the Ioane ‘Ohana and the King’s Landing community for their Makahiki ceremony in November. Featuring live music and an interview with Keli’i “Skippy” Ioane. To learn more about King's Landing, check out our interview with ʻĀinaaloha and Haʻawina Ioane in episode 5 "Keliʻi William Ioane Legacy Foundation: Growi...

Meet Hema Watson and Anuhea McDougall, the two student hosts of the Hawaiian Kingdom Weekly, along with their teacher Trevor Atkins, a founding organizer of Ke Ea Hawaiʻi. Ke Ea Hawaiʻi is an inter-scholastic student council composed of elected student leaders from Hawaiian-focused charter schools. Their project, the Hawaiian Kingdom Weekly, amplifies student and community voices by developing a c...

Meet Kainoa Azama and ʻElia Akaka, two young leaders from the Windward side of Oʻahu who are founding members of the Hui Sivila ʻŌpiopio o Koʻolaupoko (Koʻolaupoko Jr. Civic Club). The Hui Sivila ʻŌpiopio o Koʻolaupoko is a civic youth organization centered in the Moku of Koʻolaupoko. Their project brings the names of kūpuna from Koʻolaupoko who signed the kūʻē petitions home, honoring their brave...

Sixteen-year-old Pāhonu Coleman leads the Koʻolele program at Ke Kula Nui O Waimānalo.  Ke Kula Nui O Waimānalo strives to inspire youth to look to our past to build a vibrant future and a thriving community to take pride in. Koʻolele, a 12-month film and cultural exploration program, focuses on connecting youth to their culture, wahi pana, self-identity and overall well-being, pushing back on col...

ʻĀinaaloha and Haʻawina Ioane introduce the Keliʻi William Ioane Legacy Foundation and share about their childhood growing up in the village of Kingʻs Landing with their father Keliʻi “Skippy” Ioane. Keliʻi William Ioane Legacy Foundation was created in 2020 to honor and perpetuate the legacy of Keliʻi William Ioane Jr., the Mālama Ka ‘Āina Hana Ka ‘Āina Association (M.A.H.A), the Keaukaha Makahik...

Meet Hōkūokahalelani Pihana at Nā Waʻa Mauō Marine Stewardship Program. Nā Waʻa Mauōʻs Honuaiākea Voyaging Program (HVP) immerses at-risk high school students from East Hawaiʻi Island in an experience that strengthens their academics, STEM skills, and personal well being as they transition into adulthood. During the Honuaiākea program experience, students learn how to conduct marine stewardship re...

An interview with Dr. Noe Noe Wong-Wilson and Kumu Hula Snowbird Puananiopaoakalani Bento of Lālākea Foundation. Lālākea Foundation is committed to protecting natural resources including Mauna Kea and other wahi pana throughout the pae ʻāina. Their mission is to perpetuate the ancient art form of hula and other traditional cultural practices, including the inherent right to practice traditional sp...

Meet Mehana Vaughan and Jennifer Luck of Kīpuka Kuleana. Kīpuka Kuleana believes that keeping Hawaiian and long time local families in their communities, whether through sustained land ownership or other pathways that allow them to continue to serve as caretakers, is vital to the social and ecological health of Hawaiʻi ahupuaʻa, to perpetuating their character across generations, and to community...

An interview with Guy Hanohano Naehu and Tanya Mailelani Naehu of Hui o Kuapā, featuring a special musical performance. Founded in 1989, Hui o Kuapā educates local and global communities about Native Hawaiian biocultural resource management through the restoration, use and maintenance of Molokai’s loko iʻa (traditional Hawaiian fishponds) and their adjacent lands. Their Nā Hulu Kūpuna Project seek...

Meet Micky Huihui and Matthew Kaulana Ing at the Hawaiʻi People’s Fund. HPF has helped to support, build capacity, and amplify the impact of grassroots social change movements in Hawaiʻi since 1972. In this introductory episode of Hawaiʻi Rising, you’ll hear about HPF’s roots in the social movements of the 1970s, about year-round funding opportunities, and about how this podcast fits into HPF’s mi...

Conversations with grassroots community organizers at the forefront of progressive movements for change and justice in Hawai’i, featuring the 2021 grantees of Hawaiʻi People's Fund. Hawaiʻi Peopleʻs Fund has helped to support, build capacity, and amplify the impact of grassroots social change movements in Hawaiʻi since 1972. We are dedicated to the most creative, passionate, and radical visions of...