Faces of Philanthropy 2012 Issue 2

Faces of

Philanthropy 2012 • ISSUE 2

Quarterly News from the Hawai‘i Community Foundation

Hawai‘i Welcomes the Dalai Lama OUR MISSION We help people make a difference by inspiring the spirit of giving and by investing in people and solutions to benefit every island community.

Serving Our Community since 1916

The Dalai Lama’s visit was an opportunity to exchange cultural traditions and demonstrate Hawai‘i’s example of peaceful coexistence among diverse people.

OVER THE COURSE OF HIS FOUR-DAY VISIT to O‘ahu, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet seemed to relish the opportunities he had to learn about Hawaiian history and customs— whether at the Bishop Museum or ‘Iolani Palace, aboard the Hōkūle‘a, or in conversation with any one of the students and kupuna he met here.

The Dalai Lama’s visit in April set out to get people thinking about the role of peace and compassion in their daily lives. And considering that His Holiness reached nearly 20,000 Hawai‘i residents during his brief stay, his messages live on in the hearts and minds (and, most importantly, actions) of those who were fortunate enough to hear him.

The idea of sharing lessons from Hawai‘i while also absorbing the wisdom that Nobel Peace Laureates like the Dalai Lama bring from their own cultures and experiences was the original inspiration for “Pillars of Peace Hawai‘i: Building Peace on a Foundation of Aloha.” The ongoing program is sponsored by the Hawai‘i Community Foundation through a lead grant from the Omidyar Ohana Fund along with other partners.

“We are just one big human family,” the Dalai Lama told nearly 9,000 Hawai‘i high school and college students gathered at the Stan Sheriff Center to hear him talk about “Educating the Heart.” His messages about treating each other with compassion seemed to resonate deeply with the students, and many left the arena committed to doing just that … and to helping others do the same. Equally enthusiastic were the thousands Continued on next page

Leading the Mission

A message from the Chairman and President & CEO

As we settle into spring, our vision to “live in a Hawai‘i where people care about each other, our natural resources and diverse island cultures” and of “a place where people’s ideas, initiative and generosity support thriving, responsible communities” has never been clearer. At time of renewal and new beginnings, spring has brought exhilarating events and initiatives to our community that all have one thing in common: working together.

At the forefront of these is the launch of the Pillars of Peace Hawai‘i program in April.

The Hawai‘i Community Foundation was honored to sponsor the inaugural event, an Paul Kosasa Kelvin H. Taketa inspirational four-day visit by His Holiness the Dalai Lama that you can read more about Chairman of President & CEO in this issue. We are extremely grateful to Pierre and Pam Omidyar for extending an the Board invitation to the Dalai Lama and to the many partners and funders who made the launch of the program and the visit a success. We encourage you to continue to share ideas about actively practicing peace and the aloha spirit in your daily lives.

Our Schools of the Future (SOTF) initiative, also highlighted in this issue, is another example of the power of working together. An innovative effort to better our education system, SOTF is a network of 16 local private schools learning with and from each other. The initiative has seen great success, accelerating the level of change needed to transform our learning environments to prepare students for our increasingly globalized economy.

As we continue to work and grow as a foundation, what we have learned is that philanthropy has the greatest impact when we join forces. Collaboration is key and we can do much more working together than we can apart. As we look to the second half of 2012, we invite all of you to join us – to share your thoughts and help us identify the most important community needs and interests. We want to hear from you, because only together can we make our vision a reality.

Dalai Lama

Continued from page 1

of residents who came to hear the Dalai Lama speak about “Advancing Peace through the Power of Aloha.” With his characteristically light touch, His Holiness talked to the people of Hawai‘i about some vitally important issues: the value of looking at a situation from more than one angle, the need for dialogue, the meaning of Aloha, and the power of a smile.

It is the Dalai Lama’s own smile—and his infectious giggle— that puts audiences of every age and background at ease, reminding us that we are more alike than different, that we are universally responsible for ourselves, for our planet, and for each other.

About the Name

PILLARS OF PEACE HAWAI‘I The word “pillars” in the title of this program can be thought of in two ways. “Pillars” can refer to individuals who take a strong stand for peace through hard work and advocacy. “Pillars” also refers to elements of peace that can be translated into practice; these include compassion, nonviolence, interdependence, tolerance, and what we in Hawai’i call the “Spirit of Aloha.”

How are you practicing peace and aloha in your life?

The challenge of how to honor one’s culture while also honoring one another as a single humanity was part of a dialogue on native wisdom between the Dalai Lama, Pualani Kanahele, and Nainoa Thompson. The way His Holiness sees it, “Different continents, different countries, different religions … they are secondary.

We’re the same, you and me: mentally, emotionally, physically.”

Peace involves making choices. Every day, each of us— through our words and actions—has the opportunity to exemplify what it means to be a “Pillar of Peace.”

Throughout his stay, as a gesture of goodwill and respect, the Dalai Lama offered a khata, or traditional Tibetan ceremonial scarf, to some of those he met while in Hawai‘i. He explained that the beautiful white silk scarf was based on an Indian tradition, designed with Tibetan script, and made in China: a lovely metaphor for the mixture of influences that distinguishes each of us and connects all of us.

Visit www.pillarsofpeacehawaii.org to meet some of the individuals in Hawai‘i who are local “Pillars of Peace” and to share a story about how you are practicing peace in your own life.

Every time you choose to meet anger with calm, hatred with kindness, offenses with justice, and differences with respect, your living example can inspire others.

Faces of

Philanthropy Schools of the Future Gains National Recognition Mary Bloder’s Legacy of Giving A dedicated teacher with a passion for science, Mary Bloder devoted her life to education. Never married and with no children of her own, she lived in a cottage on the Lahainaluna campus for years – her boarding students becoming her family. A teacher for 44 years, much of that time at Lahainaluna high school, she reveled in her work. When Bloder retired, she continued to support her passion by giving small annual gifts to a graduating Lahainaluna boarding student with the highest grade point average in science.

A year before her death, a friend suggested that she leave her estate to continue the grants beyond her lifetime since she had no family or will to speak of. Delighted by this idea, she sought help to establish the Mary Josephine Bloder Scholarship Fund – a legacy gift now in its 23rd year.

Today, this fund continues to touch the lives of those, like Bloder, who ventured away from home to pursue a science education. Her legacy lives on through her estate planning and we are proud to help carry on her lifelong passion.

To make a gift through your estate plan, call our Philanthropic Services staff at 808-537-6333 ext 560 or toll-free from neighbor islands at 888-731-3863 or visit www. hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/ giving to learn more about your planned giving options.

Schools of the Future (SOTF), a five-year, $5 million capacity-building initiative designed to transform the learning environments and teaching strategies of Hawai‘i schools, has garnered national recognition from the Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO). Featured as one of six learning community initiatives in a recent GEO report, SOTF was highlighted as a case study to serve as a model for the larger grantmaking and nonprofit field.

“We’re thrilled that SOTF was selected as a case study. Learning communities have been vital to the transformative change taking place in our local schools, and we’re happy to share our experience to help the GEO community expand grantmaking and broaden the impact of their grantees,” said Chris van Bergeijk, vice president and chief operating officer of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation.

THE REPORT Understanding that grantmakers are successful only to the extent that their grantees achieve meaningful results, GEO promotes strategies and practices that contribute to grantee success. Interested in gaining a deeper understanding of learning communities, GEO partnered with the Research Center for Leadership in Action at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

They conducted a study to gain a better understanding of how grantmakers can employ learning communities to support collective learning among their grantees.

LEARNING COMMUNITIES According to the report, the learning community construct is grounded in a social theory of learning that emerged in the early 1990s, when learning began to be understood as a social process mediated by relationships, not just a cognitive act in an individual’s mind. Participants in learning communities not only learn from each other, but also learn how to behave as members of the community, including how to exchange knowledge,

acquire skills and change their practices.

At the heart of the SOTF initiative has been its community of learners. Formed among the cohort of SOTF funded schools, the community of learners is made up primarily of teachers but also includes administrators and principals. The goal is to share experiences in trying out new instructional methods and make learning more widely available in the field. Additionally, schools have developed learning communities within their own institutions to engage faculty, staff, students and parents in the process.

Widely successful, many of the 16 participating schools have expressed how working together and sharing information have made a world of difference.

CASE STUDY RESULTS Each case study was analyzed through three lenses: who does the learning; what the learning is about ; and how the learning happens. Based on those discussions, the report found that SOTF “offers an excellent example of how participants can amplify learning by creating parallel learning spaces at their own schools and between schools. In our view, this is a significant and sustained contribution that ensures that benefits extend far beyond the learning community itself.”

“It’s great to know that those at a national level see SOTF as a successful program.

These schools are emerging as role models of what learning should be like for both teachers and students in the 21st century – effective learning environments that are student-centered, project-based, technology driven and encourage peer collaboration,” said Kelvin Taketa, president and CEO of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation. “But there is still a long road ahead of us so while we’re grateful for the recognition, there’s room for us to learn and grow as SOTF hopefully continues to do the same.”

To learn more about Schools of the Future, visit www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org.

For more on Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, visit www.geofunders.org.

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COO Added to the Foundation’s Leadership Team The Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF) is constantly evolving to make the organization relevant and responsive to the current needs in the community and interests of its philanthropic partners. As its operations grow, the Foundation has made some positive changes to execute meaningful strategies both internally and externally. One of those changes is a newly created vice president and chief operating officer position recently filled by Chris van Bergeijk.

HCF Chief Operating Officer Chris van Bergeijk

Chris van Bergeijk, a senior staffer at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation for more than 10 years, will oversee the development and implementation of major programmatic and operational strategies at the Foundation in her new role. She will lead the executive leadership team and their staff as they continue to strengthen a cohesive, entrepreneurial and service-oriented culture.

The Foundation congratulates Chris on her new position.

For more information on connecting with a cause that you care about, please contact the Philanthropic Services Department at (808) 566-5560 (toll-free at 1-888-731-3863) or e-mail clientservices@hcf-hawaii.org

www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org