August 1, 2003 was my first day on the job as Executive Director of the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation. I wanted to start by properly grounding myself in this place, so on my lunch hour I went to the area just below Ulupō Heiau in Kailua, just behind the Windward YMCA, looking for Doc Burrows. […]
Post-Secondary Transition RFP
Hawaii’s high cost of living means young people must make smart choices, ones that help them to be upwardly mobile. Recent research shows that graduating from the University of Hawaii results in higher lifetime earnings. But not all high school graduates are willing to enroll. For them, the upwardly mobile life choices are far from […]
Youth Voice Hawai’i 2024 Report
How might we better understand the experiences, aspirations and challenges faced by opportunity youth who are not enrolled in post-secondary education, enlisted in the armed forces or exploring long-term career opportunities after high school. ‘A’ali’i Alliance, in partnership with the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, provided a platform for young people to share their perspectives and […]
20-Year Oceans Lookback
I’d like to share with you about my own 20-year learning journey in helping the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation to deploying flexible philanthropic capital to help restore nearshore marine life populations in the Main Hawaiian Islands so that future generations can benefit and learn from this rich natural resource. I’ll bring to light the mistakes […]
20-Year Education Lookback
The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation—founded in 1962 by Harold Kainalu Long Castle, who took a lot of his wealth from Kaneohe Ranch and gave it to this private foundation to make Hawaii a better place—is in a unique position to both think about ideas on public education improvement, and also provide funds to invest in […]
Scaling Opportunity
photo caption: students from Kailua, Kalaheo and Kahuku High Schools celebrate completion of internships with Hawaii Herald, Kuilima Farms, Makai Pet Hospital, Ōlelo Media and Pixar Animation, and Tofu Creative. My interest in education as a career was sparked while watching my grandmother teach French to seventh grade students in upper Manhattan. I was ten at […]
Expanding Our Work in Middle Schools
Think back to your middle school years. How did you feel on your first day walking onto a new campus after spending seven years at your last school? Did you get lost trying to find each of your different classrooms? Do you remember how awkward it felt when the lunch bell rang and you couldn’t […]
Announcing our new Climate Resiliency Strategy
The Harold Castle Foundation’s first new strategy in over 20 years. Photo Credit: Hawaii Sea Grant King Tides Project, Rafael Bergstrom 2017 We are at a critical moment for our state and our planet: we know that unavoidable climate impacts are here and that even with aggressive climate action, they will persist through the second half […]
Maui Will Rise
by Terry GeorgePhoto Credit: Naʻalehu Anthony We are only two weeks into the worst disaster for our state since statehood and the deadliest fire in the United States in over a century. At the time of this writing, the fires in West Maui and upcountry are still not 100% contained, but what we know so […]
Why don’t more students go to college?
Column originally appeared in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on April 30, 2023 By Laura Bekes, Alem Tecle and Alex Harris Only about half (51 percent) of the graduating high school class of 2022 matriculated to a 2- or 4-year college, a statistic that has remained flat for the last several years. This is troubling as higher […]
Preschool for Every Keiki
The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation’s education grantmaking primarily focuses on the K-12 through higher education pathways for students. But sometimes, an opportunity is too good to pass up. This is certainly the case with our recent investment (of time more than money) in the effort to dramatically expand preschool access in Hawaii. Why is this […]
Mālama Kahana and Huilua Fishpond
The Huilua fishpond, located in Kahana, is one of a handful of ʻia loko (fishponds) that still exist on ‘Oahu. Hoʻāla ʻĀina Kūpono, led by community members from and of the Kahana ahupua’a, aim to continue stewardship of Huilua fishpond, including the mākāhā in need of restoration. The organization’s leaders are students of both the […]
Windward Community College Enrollment
Nestled at the base of the Ko’olau mountain range lies the emerald campus of Windward Community College. Celebrating its 50th birthday, this institution serves as the gateway to higher education for residents of Ko’olauloa and Ko’olaupoko. Early in the pandemic, though, troublingly low student enrollment rates plummeted even further. We sought to meet the challenge […]
Aloha Ko’olau: Fostering Pilina in Windward O’ahu Communities
While we look ahead to the relaunch of the Pilina Fund Grant to build community resiliency in Windward Oʻahu, it seems an appropriate time to look back and celebrate the good work achieved by committed groups throughout the region during the first-year pilot of the fund. The Castle Foundation, like many other similar organizations, grappled […]
Our Shared Impact
Koʻolau Pilina Fund Now Accepting Applications
The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation is excited to announce that the Ko‘olau Pilina Fund has reopened for applications. Now in itʻs second year, the fund prioritizes projects specifically tailored to Ko‘olau communities on Oʻahu from Kahuku to Makapuʻu. The purpose of the Koʻolau Pilina Fund (the fund) is to build community resilience in the Koʻolau […]
Public Schools Show Encouraging Recovery
Hawaii Strive HI data and test results were released last week. We now know that students are recovering from learning struggles made worse by the pandemic but they are no means where they should be in order to be ready for college and the workplace. Today, the National Assessment of Education Progress was released. These […]
Koʻolau Housing Hui:
When there’s a confluence of need and opportunity, that’s usually a good time for philanthropy to step up. The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation saw that need during the first year of the pandemic, when so many families lost work and income and were unable to fully pay their rent. Opportunity came in the form of […]
Strengthening the Koʻolau Hawaiian-focused Charter School ʻĀina Hui
(Guest commentary by Alice J. Kawakami and Chelsea N. K. Keehne) Since 2018, Koʻolaupoko Hawaiian-focused Charter Schools (HFCS) and ʻāina partners have cultivated pilina between students and ʻāina, with support from the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation and Kamehameha Schools. Our schools (Ke Kula o Samuel M. Kamakau, Malama Honua PCS, and Hakipuʻu Academy) and ʻāina […]
Get Outside Hawaiʻi!
If you’ve been in Hawaiʻi long enough, you’ve caught an episode of the popular television show, Outside Hawaiʻi. Delivered straight to your living rooms for over 20 years by host Jen Boneza and the familiar sound of that oh-so-catchy ukulele picking ditty, it remains local cable channel OC16’s highest rated program. Each segment reaches an average of 55,000 […]
E Alu Pu Turns 20: From a Meeting to a Movement
Twenty years ago, I was mired in graduate school at UH Mānoa, trying to figure out a whole lot more in life than just what I’d write for my MA thesis. As luck would have it, I’d stumbled into an internship with The Nature Conservancy’s (then) brand new Marine Program. With TNC, I began supporting the Miloliʻi community—learning […]
Middle School Transition Partnership Fund
The deadline for applications has passed and we are no longer accepting proposals. You can download the full RFP here our watch our informational video below. You can contact Maria Quidez should you have any additional questions. For many students, their time spent in middle school will be their shortest tenure at a public educational […]