What does it take for a community to remain rooted and thriving while everything around it changes? After decades of working alongside Koʻolau organizations, leaders and families, we know that communities hold the manaʻo, pilina and kuleana to best care for Koʻolau. We aim to be a consistent, accountable partner and community member in the region.
That belief helps to shape our Kakoʻo Koʻolau strategy and goal for 2050: that all Koʻolau communities are resilient, can access ʻāina in their ahupuaʻa, have pathways to careers with family-sustaining wages, and hold the agency, resources, and pilina to steward their own culture and needs.
Getting there will require investment across three interconnected pillars:
ʻĀina Resilience – Koʻolau communities steward and care for the ʻāina
We invest in building the capacity of ʻāina organizations to sustain their work, forging partnerships between schools and ʻāina organizations where place can inform learning, and expanding Koʻolau families’ access to and relationship with the ʻāina within their ahupuaʻa.
Economic Resilience – Koʻolau youth access college or a good job
This means strengthening academic preparation and college-going in middle and high school, removing barriers to postsecondary opportunities, and ensuring high school graduates have a real plan for what comes next. It also means connecting employers and education partners to make sure opportunity is within reach for people who live here.
Community Resilience – Koʻolau communities are equipped and empowered to adapt and address stressors together
We believe that the people closest to a problem are best positioned to shape the response, therefore we support the development of connected, sustainable resiliency hubs rooted in and trusted by community. We invest in networks and systems that help communities identify, connect, and steward resources. And through the Pilina Fund, we put funding decisions directly in the hands of Koʻolau community members.
In addition to these three pillars, we hold space to be responsive to compelling regional needs that don’t fit neatly into any pillar but matter to the communities we serve.
The deep work we do in the Koʻolau community is an echo of what our founder, Harold K.L. Castle, knew – that ʻāina, livelihood and community are not separate, but that they are what keep a community connected and thriving together.
If your work touches this region, we want to hear from you. Reach out to Maria Quidez to start a conversation.
Click here to view a listing of grants made in this category.