Hawaiʻi Center for Youth Philanthropy
The Hawai‘i Center for Youth Philanthropy (HCYP) has been cultivating the next generation of leaders, grounding youth in the values and practices of community-centered giving. HCYP launched its first cohort in 2024-2025, bringing together six schools on O‘ahu. Students explored community priorities, developed philanthropic mindsets rooted in aloha and stewardship, and led projects reflecting local waiwai. Educators participated as fellows and mentors, supporting reflection, action, and growth alongside their students. Community members were engaged throughout the process, reconnecting schools to place and purpose. The year culminated in student-led presentations celebrating learning, leadership, and pilina.
Kaimukī High School
Kaimukī High School is a dynamic, inclusive, differentiated, and supportive collaborative learning community where high standards of instruction and assessment drive student success, and foster a culture of respect and excellence. Guided by the D.A.W.G. Mentality—Discipline, Accountability, Work Ethic, and Grit—the school emphasizes both academic achievement and character development. In January 2025, Kaimukī launched its Community & Cultural Initiatives to strengthen cultural identity and connection. Through its student-run media platform, Bulldog Barks, students explore and express their cultural heritage, building confidence and self-identity. These efforts, highlighted by the school’s 2nd annual Culture Day, have deepened community ties and re-established Kaimukī High School as a central force within its neighborhood.
Honolulu Museum of Art
The Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA) is Hawai‘i‘s premier art institution, inspiring and uplifting the community through transformative art experiences. Since opening in 1927, HoMA has prioritized education, a tradition carried on through its Visual Arts Integration Education Program. The program’s educator workshops and Lending Collection help teachers across Hawai‘i integrate art into classrooms, building visual literacy and inquiry. Last year, more than 14,000 students from over 40 schools benefited from these resources, expanding access to arts-integrated learning statewide. Learn more here.
Ceeds of Peace
Ceeds of Peace is a Hawai’i-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to raise peacebuilding leaders. Ceeds of Peace does so by creating and facilitating community platforms and opportunities for adults, youth, educators, family members, service providers, those in the justice system, business leaders, and non-profit leaders to work together in our collective pursuit to build peaceful communities. Its annual three-part peacebuilding workshop series is a rare free professional development opportunity for public school educators. Participants learn peacebuilding skills from renowned peacebuilders and Ceeds co-founders, Dr. Kerrie Urosevich and Dr. Maya Soetoro. Learn more here.
Make-A-Wish Foundation
Make-A-Wish® Hawaii creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses across the state, bringing hope and joy when they need it most. Wishes are powerful medicine that give children the strength to fight harder against their illnesses, reclaim their childhoods, and envision a brighter future. From dream trips that allow children to simply be kids again, to local adventures that bring families closer together during difficult times, more children across Hawaii can look beyond their illness, embrace possibility, and create memories that will last a lifetime. Learn more here.
Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii, Kauai Clubhouses
The foundation first awarded a one-year grant to the organization to support out-of-school programming due to the pandemic. Takeaways from how the organization operated during the pandemic informed how it supports all out-of-school programming now and into the future. The multi-year award granted in May 2022, reflects the foundation’s trust in Kauai leadership, appreciation for their passionate commitment to children, and an understanding that without an organization like the Boys & Girls Club, many Kauai children and youth would not be able to successfully navigate hunger, educational challenges, trauma, emotional supports, health/wellness barriers, and future opportunities. This multi-year award also reflects the foundation’s commitment to the communities of Kauai, an island that holds a special place in the hearts of the Hayashi family as the birthplace of Herbert Hayashi and where his children spent much of their childhood. Learn more here.
Kalihi Palama Culture & Arts Society (KPCAS)
KPCAS works to bring the community together by offering classes and two annual hula competitions for public participation. Its Lohe I Ka Leo: Hear the Voice project will turn over 100 years of first-person hula knowledge and history into a digitalized collection for keiki and the community to access for generations to come.
Nature Activities for Learning and Understanding (NALU) Studies Program
NALU’s mission is to help empower and transform the lives of at-risk youth by cultivating an interest in enriched science education opportunities. Through NALU Studies, students receive hands-on learning in cultural settings, and guidance and mentoring throughout the program, opportunities that have become even more vital as effects of COVID-19 continue to impact youth education. The current three-year award supports its efforts to expand NALU’s reach and provide similar transformational programming on the islands of Kauai, Maui, Molokai, and Lanai, while also continuing to support Oahu youth. Learn more here.
Special Olympics Hawaii
Creating a more inclusive world, Special Olympics Hawaii is the state’s largest sports organization for people with intellectual disabilities. The new three-year award supports its efforts to reengage with those negatively impacted by the pandemic and the inability to gather. SOHI hopes to undo some of the damage on the health and wellness of highly vulnerable individuals with disabilities and begin to reconvene communities around the needs of those they serve. Learn more here.
HUGS
HUGS was founded in 1982 at Unity Church by a small group of volunteers who recognized the many challenges faced by families with seriously ill children. Its programs strengthen and support families with children facing life-threatening illnesses that range from cancer, cardiac issues, liver and kidney ailments to chromosomal defects. HUGS serves Hawaii children, ages birth to 21 years and provides compassionate support to parents challenged financially and emotionally by issues related to their children’s condition. We are proud to support HUGS over the next three years through a general operating support grant. The foundation believes in fostering relationships built on shared values, so we are grateful for the opportunity to partner with HUGS, its team and its board, as they continue to uplift Hawaii’s community. Learn more here.
Kupu
Kupu’s mission is to preserve the land while empowering youth. It provides hands-on training in conservation, sustainability and environmental education for young adults with the goal of cultivating Hawaii’s next generation of environmental and cultural stewards. Providing service opportunities that create positive environmental, cultural and community impact across Hawaii and the Pacific region, Kupu is dedicated to guiding the island towards a more sustainable future.
The foundation is proud to enter into a multi-year partnership with the team at Kupu, providing general operating support over the next four years. As the foundation continues to evolve, Kupu fits perfectly into our philosophy of community impact as we go beyond contractual relationships and into partnerships based on mutual values. Learn more here.
Past Grantees
Alternative Structures International
Alzheimer’s Association Hawaii
American Heart Association
Arthritis Foundation
Boys & Girls Club – Kauai Clubhouses
Boy Scouts of America, Aloha Council
Domestic Violence Action Center (DVAC)
Early Childhood Action Strategy (ECAS)
Feeding Hawaii Together
Filipino Community Center
Gift Foundation
Hawaii Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations (HANO)
Hawaii Children’s Action Network (HCAN)
Hawaii Food & Wine Festival
Hawaii Investment Ready
Hawaii Health & Harm Reduction Center
Hawaii International Child
Hawaii Nature Center
Hawaii Opera Theater
Hawaiian Mission Houses
HawaiiKidsCAN
Helping Hands Hawaii
Honolulu Police Community Foundation
Honolulu Zoological Society
Ho’ola Na Pua
Hope Street Group
HUGS
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Kahala Elementary PTO
Kalihi Palama Culture & Arts Society
Kona Historical Society
Kupu
Lanakila Pacific
Leilehua High School
Maryknoll School
Nature Activities for Learning and Understanding (NALU) Studies Program
Pacific Region Baseball, Inc.
PBS Hawaii
Special Olympics Hawaii
Teach for America
The Early School
UH Foundation – UH Manoa Athletics
Viet Hope
Waikiki Health
Wally Yonamine Foundation
YMCA of Honolulu
YWCA Oahu