REPORT TO MEMBERS
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Bringing opportunity, education, and hope to Hawai‘i Island’s youth — at school, at work, and across their lives. Giving back to the community we share.
– DEAR KU KI‘O COMMUNITY FRIENDS AND PARTNERS As residents of Kūki‘o, we know our lives have been made better by this place, a place of rejuvenation and solace, beauty and mystery. And so it is our honor — our kuleana — to give back to this island and its children, its future. In 2016, your generosity through the Kūki‘o Community Fund allowed us to extend our reach further into the community, opening doors for youth through scholarships, STEM training and opportunities, career development, and the preservation of culture. The Kūki‘o Community Fund is creating opportunity and sparking hope for families of Kūki‘o employees and many who live in neighboring communities. Your appreciation for the restoration and family togetherness at Kūki‘o is transforming the lives of others. As the Kūki‘o Community Fund Advisory Committee, it is our honor and privilege to share this mission with you and to report back on how the Kūki‘o Community Fund is truly making an impact. When we make an education possible, we not only strengthen the child but the entire family. When new career channels are formed, everyone in the community benefits. When culture and tradition are preserved, it ensures future generations will know their roots, their home. Let’s continue our work together, making a difference in this place we know and love. With deep gratitude and aloha, Sally, Grant, David, Andrea, Danielle, Ross, and Dawn Kūki‘o Community Fund Advisory Committee
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– 2016 KU KI‘O COMMUNITY FUND ADVISORY COMMITTEE In partnership with local island leaders, Kūki‘o residents give their time, wisdom, and resources to raise the funds needed to make possible the grants and community investments — to give back to the island that gives all of us so much.
Sally Hartman
Grant Heidrich
David Johnston
Danielle White
Ross Wilson Jr.
Dawn Zierk (Chair)
Andrea McTamaney
PAST MEMBERS
STAFF
Samuel Ainslie
The Hawai‘i Community Foundation brings over 100 years of experience in philanthropy in Hawai‘i, building partnerships, crafting change, sharing knowledge, and enhancing lives. By partnering with HCF, the Kūki‘o Community Fund benefits from their professional staff, deep knowledge, and cost effective infrastructure for grantmaking and operations.
Carl Carlson
Robert Punihaole (deceased)
Benjy Garfinkle
Hannah Springer
BJ Kobayashi
Elle Stephens
Jim Lally
Lydia Clements, Director, Neighbor Islands Diane Chadwick, Senior Philanthropic Services Officer Andrea Furuli, Senior Philanthropy Advancement Officer Chelsey Chow, Senior Philanthropic Services Associate 02
HOPE For so many, a college education seems a daunting if not impossible achievement. – By partnering with the E lama Project at Pālamanui to foster non-college bound students, and by creating scholarships for Kūki‘o employees and their families, we are making the once impossible now real and achievable. Neymai Lawrence-Yamagata remembers her single mother working to make ends meet for herself and her two daughters, especially through the difficulties of Neymai’s childhood accident that left her hospitalized and scared. “Through the hours of caring for me during the numerous 24-hour watches, I realized what I wanted to do when I grew up,” she says, “become a registered nurse and do for others exactly what they’d done for me: help save lives.” – As a Kūki‘o employee, Neymai made that dream a reality through the Elama Project. “Now that I am working, I’m helping my mom pay the bills,” she says, and she received the education she never imagined would be possible.
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HAWAI‘I ISLAND — THE REALITY • By 2018, 65% of Hawai‘i Island jobs will require a post-secondary education, according to work-force projections. • West Hawai‘i is one of the state's most underserved areas, with residents having limited access to educational opportunities.
– ELAMA PROJECT — THE PROMISE OF OPPORTUNITY Through a statewide, innovative collaboration, the Hawai‘i 13th Year Initiative encourages previously non-college bound high school students and adults to attend and successfully complete their first year of college. – Elama Project was launched at the Hawai‘i Community College Pālamanui campus in 2015, with support from the Kūki‘o Community Fund from day one. • Tuition assistance, financial support, academic counseling, and information services keep program recipients focused and on track. – • The number of Elama Project students continues to increase, nearly doubling – from 18 students in 2015 to 30 in 2016. Elama students now represent 10% of the Pālamanui student population. – • An Elama Project dedicated staff position now supports student success as well as a peer-mentoring program that brings students together to collaborate and develop leadership skills.
EMPLOYEE SCHOLARSHIPS Established in 2016, the Kūki‘o Community Fund Employee Scholarship creates growth and advancement opportunity for Kūki‘o employees and their dependents. By providing the funding for an education from any accredited two- or four-year higher education institution, these scholarships invest in the individual, their families, and our shared community. Many Kūki‘o employees juggle families and jobs while pursuing a college education, so the scholarship is offered to part-time and full-time students. By supporting renewable scholarships, we hope to encourage degree and training completion. 04
OPPORTUNITY Build it and they will come. The Kūki‘o Community Fund invests in career pathways, where previously there were none, by partnering with others focused on the same goals. This approach opens doors of opportunity for the island’s youth and paves the way for technology jobs and growth right here on Hawai‘i Island. Born and raised in West Hawai‘i, Kully Kekaula-Basque never dreamed he’d one day study biological and computer sciences at Columbia University. But that’s exactly what he’s doing, all because he discovered STEM in the Kealakehe High School robotics club and then joined the Akamai Workforce Initiative (AWI). With AWI, a 2016 STEM Learning Partnership grantee, Kully interned with real-world STEM professionals characterizing microalgae for aquaculture fisheries and bivalve farms. One day, he hopes to turn his high-tech education into meaningful work back home on Hawai‘i Island.
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THE VISION, THE RESULTS — MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR SHARED COMMITMENT • The Kūki‘o Community Fund has continued their commitment to the STEM Learning Partnership, working with the other nine funders to advance STEM teaching practices and resources, diversify learning styles, and create hands-on experiences across the island. • Place-based learning, robotics clubs, and teacher training are just some of the initiatives funded by the partnership. It also engages students in the island’s $2.5 billion astronomy sector and sparks their curiosity about alternative energy, aquaculture, and food security. • The Akamai Workforce Initiative (AWI) is one of many grantees supported by the STEM Learning Partnership. Serving the island’s STEM workforce needs since 2003, AWI puts students in the field, resulting in more than two-thirds of their alumni currently working in STEM positions across the state. AWI’s eight 2016 intern-led projects range from designing a temperature control system for a Subaru telescope to utilizing VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imagine Radiometer Suite) to assess runoff impact on Hawai‘i’s coral reefs.
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SECURE FOUNDATION Real world problems are solved beyond the classroom.
HCF'S FLEX PROGRAM The Kūki‘o Community Fund joins a myriad of other funders from around Hawai‘i to provide unrestricted learning for worthwhile organizations whose work demonstrates ongoing success across communities. • FLEX Grants help youth-based organizations enhance programs uniquely designed for members in their Hawai‘i Island communities.
• Building on programs already in place, the FLEX Grants enable local leadership to do more, go farther, and reach deeper into the community. • Local programs, local impact, local leadership — all empowered by the generosity of the Kūki‘o Community Fund and others who share a commitment to the community.
By supporting youth serving organizations through HCF's FLEX program, the Kūki‘o Community Fund creates opportunity for student-growth and possibility that stays with them throughout their lives.
BOYS TO MEN MENTORING NETWORK, INC. Boys to Men Mentoring Network, Inc. (BTMH) serves at-risk boys in middle and high schools around Hawai‘i Island, providing weekly mentoring groups and camps where boys develop leadership skills and discover qualities of the men they want to become. Many of the boys are of Hawaiian and Pacific Islander descent and live in rural, low-income communities. BTMH was formed by a group of dedicated community leaders to help at-risk boys grow into healthy, mature men.
HOLUALOA FOUNDATION FOR ARTS AND CULTURE The Holualoa Foundation for Arts & Culture (HFAC) provides art education and experiences to people of all ages and abilities at Donkey Mill Art Center (DMAC) in Holualoa. Through hands-on classes, workshops, exhibitions, and special events of contemporary arts, crafts, and culture, HFAC creates a gathering place for
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individuals to connect, collaborate, and develop into a more creative, responsible, and compassionate community. The discipline of making art can pave the way to finding balance between intention and spontaneity, and create a path to ‘outside-the-box’ thinking and creative problemsolving that can help the community become a more intelligent, responsible, and compassionate society.
KONA PACIFIC CHARTER SCHOOL Family literacy, parenting workshops, nutrition education, and an annual health fair are just some of the offerings at Kealakekua’s Kona Pacific Charter School, nurturing some of the most vulnerable members of the North and South Kona communities.
NĀ KĀLAI WA‘A Native Hawaiian traditions are honored, taught, and preserved at Nā Kālai Wa‘a, integrating voyaging into the school curriculum and bringing students and voyagers together to pass on the tradition, on the water and in the community.
Kūki‘o Community Fund has been spreading opportunity, creating hope, and launching careers for the past sixteen years.
IN 2016, WE RAISED ALMOST $600,000 FOR PROGRAMS RIGHT HERE IN THE COMMUNITY WE LOVE, MAKING A DIFFERENCE — AT SCHOOL, AT WORK, AND IN LIFE.
Together, we supported: $220,000 for FLEX Grants
$225,000
for STEM Funding
$100,000 –
for ELAMA Project
$30,000
for Scholarships
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– 2016 KUKI‘O COMMUNITY FUND
GRANTEE LIST STEM LEARNING PARTNERSHIP GRANTEES Akamai Workforce Initiative — Internship Program Big Island Invasive Species Committee — Teacher Professional Development for Place-based, Inquiry-driven Instruction Boys and Girls Club of the Big Island — Akeakamai Aloha ‘Āina Friends of Connections School — Integrating STEM Education through Project-Based Learning Friends of Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge — Teaching Change Girl Scouts of Hawai‘i — STEM Program
Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy and Waimea Elementary — STEM Summer Learning Partnership Hawai‘i Space Grant Consortium — Inspiration, Imagination Innovation (I3) Project and PRIME (Professional Resources Inspiring Motivated Educators) Honoka‘a Complex — STEM Partnership Honoka‘a Complex — STEM Phantom Pilots ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center — MANU ‘Imiloa: The Geometry of Wayfinding Kanu o ka ‘Āina Learning ‘Ohana — Mālamapōki‘i Outdoor STEM Learning Laboratory
Ke Kula ‘O Nāwahīokalani‘ōpu‘u — Ko Kula Kai Kea‘au Elementary School — Robotics Inspire Kealakehe High School — Creating STEM Career Pathway in West Hawai‘i
Programming, Development and Support The Kohala Center — Environmental Education Program
Keaukaha One Youth Development — RISE 21st Century After School Program
UH Hilo College of Continuing Education and Community Service and Krause Center for Innovation at Foothills Community College — Mini-MERIT and MADE Programs For Educators
Laupāhoehoe Community Public Charter School — ‘Imi Na‘auWOW and Project-based Learning
Waiakea High School — WHS Robotics
Waimea Elementary School — Student Computer Program
Pa‘a Pono Miloli‘i — ‘Imiloa O Miloli‘i (Miloli‘i “Seekers of Knowledge”) Teach for America — Hawai‘i Island STEM Teacher
FLEX GRANTS After-School All-Stars Hawai‘i Alex and Duke DeRego Foundation Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawai‘i, Inc. Boys and Girls Club of Hawai‘i, Inc.
Boys to Men Mentoring Network, Inc.
Makua Lani Christian Academy
Small World Preschool
Holualoa Foundation for Arts and Culture
Māla‘ai — The Culinary Garden of Waimea Middle School
The Kohala Center, Inc.
Kahilu Theatre Foundation
Nā Kālai Wa‘a
Kona Pacific Public Charter School
North Kohala Community Resource Center
Teach For America Three Ring Ranch Inc. Waikoloa Dry Forest Initiative West Hawai‘i Dance Theatre
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR EDUCATION SUCCESS – Elama Project of Hawai‘i Community College at Pālamanui Kūki‘o Employee Scholarship Fund (to be awarded in 2017)
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By supporting education
The Kūki‘o Community Fund was established in 2001 so that Kūki‘o members could: INSPIRE by connecting the deep generosity of Kūki‘o residents with meaningful giving opportunities. INFORM by collaborating and sharing understanding of the community needs and effective solutions. INVEST by measuring our philanthropic giving with other like-minded investors. Together, we are making a difference. Mahalo for your commitment, your involvement, and your generosity!
We invite you to learn more about what we do and how we work and encourage you to join us in making a difference on Hawai‘i Island! Contributions are tax-deductible and can be made online at HawaiiCommunityFoundation.org/KukioFund, be delivered to the concierge, or sent to: Kūki‘o Community Fund of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation 827 Fort Street Mall Honolulu, HI 96813 (EIN: 99-0261283)
and youth development, the Kūki‘o Community Fund is increasing the success of local youth in school, in work, and in life.