Hawaiʻi Rising

A conversation with James Auld and Pua Summer from Mutual Aid Lāhui. Mutual Aid Lāhui empowers the lāhui through education, advocacy, and mālama ‘āina and mobilizes to flank community events and relief work. The Mutual Aid Lāhui crew are passionate about feeding the Lāhui and providing support where it’s needed most. Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

Community news for March 2026! After headlines, we feature interviews with two HPF partners advocating for their communities during this legislative session: heresafefarmssafefood.comhere Links from headlines: hawaiipeoplesfund.org/calendarhere Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi episodes: 98. ʻĪmaikalani Winchester (Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea Honolulu): "Hāpai i ke kuleana"97. Pualiʻi Rossi (I Ola Wailuanui): "He aha ka makemake o ka ʻāina ʻo Wailuanui?" Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

A Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi episode featuring ʻĪmaikalani Winchester, lead organizer for the annual celebration of Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea at Thomas Square, with guest host Hina Kaʻōpua Canonigo. Also check out our past English-language episode with the organizers of Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea Honolulu. Ma kēia hualono, kamaʻilio ʻo ʻĪmaikalani Winchester e pili ana i ka moʻolelo o ka Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea. Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

We kick off Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi with a special episode in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi featuring Pualiʻi Rossi, the president of I Ola Wailuanui, with guest host Brad Watanabe. Also check out our English-language episode about I Ola Wailuanui with Pualiʻi and her fellow board member Mason Chock. Ma kēia hualono, kamaʻilio ʻo Pualiʻi Rossi e pili ana i kona aʻo ʻana i ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi a me ka hana a ka hui ʻo I Ola Wailuanui, ʻo ia hoʻi, ka mālama ʻana i ka ʻāina ʻo Wailuanui no nā hanauna e hiki mai ana. Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

A conversation about ʻāina stewardship with Kekupuloa Kim from ʻĀina Kōnea. ʻĀina Kōnea is a grassroots hui with the mission to restore the reciprocal ea between the kānaka and ʻāina of Wahiawā by way of cultural revitalization. They care for a kīpuka in the forest of Wahiawā Uka along a section of Kaukonahua Stream known as Kuaʻikua. Website: https://www.ainakonea.org Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

Community news for January 2026! After headlines, we feature interviews with updates from two long-time grantee partners: To learn more, listen to our previous episodes: 5. Keliʻi William Ioane Legacy Foundation: Growing Up in King‘s Landing45. Keliʻi William Ioane Legacy Foundation: Community, Ceremony, and Collective Abundance51. Hawaiʻi Workers Center: Empowering Workers to Organize Subscribe to the Hawaiʻi Rising zine here to receive the next issue in the mail! Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

A conversation about protecting ʻāina with Jessica Dos Santos and Lillie Makaila from Kūpaʻa Kuilima. Kūpaʻa Kuilima is dedicated to advocating for responsible and pono development on O’ahu’s North Shore from Waialeʻe to Keana, elevating and protecting the ‘āina by holding it sacred, staying rooted in place, and reviving ancestral traditions. Linktree: linktr.ee/kupaakuilima Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

Community news for December 2025! After headlines, we feature interviews with two Maui Aloha grantees organizing in Lāhaina: Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

Today is Lā Kūʻokoʻa, the Hawaiian Kingdom’s Independence Day! On this day in 1843, the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was officially recognized as a sovereign nation by Great Britain and France in the Anglo-Franco Proclamation. In this special episode, we speak with ʻĪmaikalani Winchester to hear the history behind Lā Kūʻokoʻa. ʻĪmai is a lead organizer for the annual celebration of Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea at Thomas Square. These two national holidays are linked, both commemorating landmark moments of the Kingdom’s history in the same year 1843. So in this episode, in commemoration of today’s holiday, ʻĪmai is guiding us through this watershed moment of Hawaiian history. Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

HPF and our partners are on the radio! In this special episode, we share a recording of a live radio show on KKCR Kauaʻi Community Radio highlighting our Kauaʻi-based grantee partners through a pop-up broadcast from Hale Līhue. Hosted by KKCR's executive director Anni Caporuscio, the broadcast features Kiki (Rice Street Business Association), Pualiʻi Rossi-Fukino (I Ola Wailuanui), Tina Aiu (Kīpuka Kuleana), and Kāhealani Collins (Kalauokekahuli), as well as HPF's executive director Micky Huihui. Tag: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

A conversation with Nikki Cristobal, Ashley Mahaʻa, and Makanalani Gomes about the Missing and Murdered Native Hawaiian Women, Girls, and Māhū (MMNHWGM) movement. The MMNHWGM movement and research work is a focus of Kamāwaelualani, a Kauaʻi-based grassroots organization dedicated to Native Hawaiian public art, education, and community activation. Kamāwaelualani undertakes this work to re-connect Hawaiʻiʻs people with cultural stories and places, re-instilling Kauaʻi-based values of protection of treasured places, community cohesion, and the centering of Native Hawaiian culture. Website: https://www.kamawaelualani.org/ Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai’i, Hawaii

Our first monthly community news episode! In each news episode, you'll get community headlines followed by two interview segments sharing timely updates from our partners from across all our grantmaking programs. Our November 2025 episode features updates from two hui who demonstrate that community takes care of community: Subscribe to our new Hawaiʻi Rising zine at hawaiipeoplesfund.org/podcast. Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

An interview about building up communities' capacity to heal their own lands with Kauʻi Lopes, Hannah Hartmann, and Kaʻimi Kaleleiki. Earth RM is a Hilo-based nonprofit with a mission to develop, implement, and share accessible bioremediation solutions to heal communities, lands, and waters affected by environmental pollution. Bioremediation involves allying with microbes, fungi, and plant communities to break down environmental pollution. In this episode, the Earth RM team walks us through the bioremediation process with a current site and shares about an upcoming workshop in Kona for community members to learn about bioremediation. Website: earthrm.org Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

A conversation about community restoration of place with Addison Bulosan of the Rice Street Business Association (RSBA). RSBA is dedicated to fostering a thriving, just, and self-sustaining Downtown Līhu‘e by empowering local entrepreneurship, perpetuating Native Hawaiian culture, and strengthening community power. RSBA invites Kauaʻi community members to the annual Rice Street Block Party this coming Saturday, October 25 from 4-8pm! Website: https://www.ricestreetbusinessassociation.com/ Phone: (808)-652-1442 Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

Season 5 of Hawaiʻi Rising is here! The new season kicks off with a conversation about building support and acceptance for LGBTQ+ loved ones with Ryna Yamada and Cameron Miyamoto, the co-presidents of PFLAG Oʻahu. PFLAG Oʻahu is a local chapter of the US’ largest organization dedicated to supporting, educating, and advocating for LGBTQ+ people and those who love them. PFLAG Oʻahu hosts a monthly support group and serves as a resource for families and community organizations, wherever they are on their journey to acceptance. Email: oahupflag@gmail.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/PFLAG-Oahu-61569606350020/ Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai’i, Hawaii

Announcing a new season of Hawaiʻi Rising featuring our 2025 grantee cohort, issue-area episodes, and new monthly community news segments, coming soon wherever you listen to podcasts. Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea is coming up this weekend! Join us at Thomas Square on Sunday, July 27, 2025. Each year for Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea, two aloha ʻāina are honored for their activism and commitment to ea. The two 2025 honorees are Likookalani Martin and the late Abel Simeona Lui. In this episode, Uncle Liko shares about his life, music, and activism, from the writing of the movement anthem “All Hawaiʻi Stand Together” to his transformative time in South Kona during the Hawaiian Renaissance. To learn more about Uncle Liko and Abel’s stories as well as details for this year’s celebration at Thomas Square, visit https://lahoihoiea.org/. Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai’i, Hawaii.

In this multi-grantee episode, Hawaiʻi Rising speaks with three organizations uplifting their communities through filmmaking. First, we speak with Pua Case from Mauna Kea Education & Awareness and filmmaker Jalena Keane-Lee about their feature-length documentary Standing Above the Clouds, which premiered last year. Building on an earlier short film with the same name released in 2020, the feature-length documentary follows three families of Native Hawaiian mother-daughter activists standing to protect sacred Mauna Kea from the construction of the massive Thirty Meter Telescope. Next, we revisit our 2022 conversation with Vera Zambonelli, the founder of Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking. Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking is a longtime HPF grantee partner committed to advancing gender equity in filmmaking and advocating for women to tell their stories through film with an intersectional lens. HWF’s Reel Camps are filmmaking camps for girls and femme-identifying youth. Finally, we turn to the important behind-the-scenes work of archiving film footage with the initiative Hoʻomau Nā Maka o ka ʻĀina. In this conversation recorded in 2023, we speak with Aunty Joan Lander of Nā Maka o ka ʻĀina and Emma Broderick from Puʻuhonua Society about this effort to catalog and archive over 6000 video tapes of footage shot by documentary organization Nā Maka o ka ʻĀina. To learn more about these hui, listen to our full episodes with them: 23. Mauna Kea Education and Awareness: Standing Every Day for the Mauna 32. Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking: Getting Reel about Social Change 48. Mauna Kea Education and Awareness: A Pillar for the Lāhui 56. Puʻuhonua Society: Hoʻomau Nā Maka o ka ʻĀina Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

In our fourth multi-grantee episode, we hear from three organizations working to restore ahupuaʻa systems and perpetuate ʻike kupuna about ʻāina stewardship on three different islands. First, on Molokai, we hear from Hano and Maile Naehu at Hui o Kuapā about their work to restore loko iʻa and grow a new generation of modern konohiki. Second, we go to East Maui to hear from Jerome Kekiwi, Jr. from Nā Moku Aupuni o Koʻolau Hui, a group representing kalo farmers that restored taro-feeding streams from commercial diversions and continues to steward their waters. Finally, we head to Kona, Hawaiʻi, with Loke Aloua at Hui Kaloko-Honokōhau. The kiaʻi loko of the hui dedicate themselves to preserving and advancing the natural and cultural resources of Kaloko Fishpond and protecting the ecosystem that sustains it. To learn more about these hui, listen to our full episodes with each of them: 1. Hui o Kuapā: Restoring Fish Ponds on Molokai 25. Nā Moku Aupuni o Koʻolau Hui: When the Water Came Back on Maui 30. Hui Kaloko-Honokōhau: Stewards to the Realm of Kanaloa Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

Hawaiʻi Rising presents "Mākua: Piko of Peace" from the Before Us podcast, an audio-documentary series produced in collaboration with Mālama Mākua. In episode five, Mālama Mākua board members Aunty Lynette Cruz and Uncle Sparky Rodrigues discuss the evolution of Mālama Mākua's mission, and we hear significant recent developments in the movement for the return and restoration of Mākua Valley. To learn more about Mālama Mākua, visit www.malamamakua.org. Before Us is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other podcast platforms. Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii