Hawaiʻi Rising

By Hawaiʻi People‘s FundSociety & Culture

Hawaiʻi Rising episodes

October 16 112. Nation of Hawai'i: A Blueprint for Reconciliation
A conversation about ahupuaʻa systems and the Apology Resolution with Brandon Makaʻawaʻawa, Vice President of the Nation of Hawaiʻi.
The Nation of Hawaiʻi was officially established on January 16, 1995, through the enactment of a Constitution, ceremoniously signed at ‘Iolani Palace in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. The Nation’s educational programs and projects offer a new approach towards economic, social, and cultural development, perpetuating the Hawaiian cultural way of life by preserving the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of nā kūpuna o Hawai'i nei.
Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

36 min
October 09111. October 2026 Community News: Hurricane Response by RSBA and Kalauokekahuli
Community news for October 2026: after headlines, we hear updates from two organizations doing vital storm response work after Hurricanes Lala and Lowell:
Rice Street Business Association's Hale Līhuʻe serves as a hub for food and supply distributions, power, internet, and connection with other community members. Addison Bulosan shares about the RSBA's ongoing disaster preparedness and response work and the hui's vision for the systems-level change that will make Kauaʻi more storm resilient. For upcoming food distributions and other updates, check out RSBA's Instagram @downtownlihue.
After Hurricane Lala devastated Kaʻū in mid-August, Kalauokekahuli used their multi-island network to offer support for impacted families, especially mothers and babies. When Lowell hit Kauaʻi just over three weeks later, they pivoted their response work to support ʻohana on Kauaʻi as well. Program director and koʻokua Kāhealani Collins shares how Kalauokekahuli worked to identify and respond to the shifting and specific needs of impacted community. For updates and ways to support, check out their website www.kalauokekahuli.tv and Instagram @kalauokekahuli.

Tag: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii
52 min
October 02 110. West Maui Water Report with Lahaina Strong and Kaheāwai Media
This summer, Kaheāwai Media, in partnership with HPF Maui Aloha grantee partner Lahaina Strong, published a series of stories about West Mauiʻs water. The series focuses on proposals for Maui County to purchase water systems from two private corporations, Maui Land & Pineapple and West Maui Land Company.
This is a significant opportunity for water to return from private control to public stewardship. To break down the story of these proposed deals, we speak with Jordan Ruidas and De Andre Makakoa from Lahaina Strong and Tyler Sonnemaker, co-founder and storyteller at Kaheāwai Media.
Read the full stories and susbscribe on Kaheāwai's website kaheawaimedia.com.
Follow Kaheāwai @kaheawaimedia and Lahaina Strong @officiallahainastrong on Instagram to stay in the loop.
Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii
39 min
September 18 Hawaiʻi Rising - Season 6 Trailer
Announcing a new season of Hawaiʻi Rising! Stay tuned for new episodes coming soon featuring HPF's 2026 cohort of 51 grantee partners across the pae ʻāina.

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii
6 min
July 31 Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea 2025: Honoring Liko Martin (2025)
Today, July 31, is Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea! The 2026 celebration at Thomas Square on July 26 was a huge success, and we are excited for the celebration at Pōkaʻi Bay in Waiʻanae on Saturday, August 1.
Each year for Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea, two aloha ʻāina are honored for their activism and commitment to ea. Last week's episode featured the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana in recognition of the honorees Kimo Mitchell and George Jarrett Helm, Jr.
This week, we're sharing our episode for Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea 2025 when the honorees were Likookalani Martin and the late Abel Simeona Lui. In this conversation, 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.
51 min
July 24 109. Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea 2026: Honoring 50 Years of the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana
Each year, the Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea celebration at Thomas Square in Honolulu honors two aloha ʻāina. This year, uplifting the 50th anniversary of the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana (PKO), the two honorees are James Kimo Mitchell and George Jarrett Helm, Jr.
In this episode, PKO members Dr. Davianna Pōmaikaʻi McGregor and Dr. Kaliko Baker share the history of PKO’s organizing to end the bombing of Kahoʻolawe, the story of Kimo and George’s sacrifice to the movement, and the ongoing restoration work of the ʻOhana.
For information about upcoming 50th anniversary events, check out PKO's Instagram @kahoolawe.
For details about this year's Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea celebration at Thomas Square, go to lahoihoiea.org. And to learn more about this holiday and its history, listen to our conversation with organizers from 2022 here as well as on-the-ground conversations from 2022 celebrations at Thomas Square and Pōkaʻi Bay here.
Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii
1 hr 5 min
July 18 108. "Why art now?": Uplifting Creative Practice with Hoʻākea Source
At the 2026 hōʻike for the the Hoʻākea Source art regranting program, Puʻuhonua Society executive director Emma Broderick asked each awarded artist the question "Why art now?" as a prompt to share about their practice.
In the first part of this episode, we speak with Emma about that question and about Puʻuhonua Society's mission to cultivate space(s) where Native Hawaiian and Hawaiʻi-based artists, cultural practitioners, and those rooted in the archipelago can continue creative practices for the collective transformation of Hawaiʻi.
In the second segment, we speak with artist collaborators Malia Osorio and Kauwila Mahi about their Hoʻākea Source awarded project "Kaahupahau."
Websites: Puʻuhonua Society, Hoʻākea Source
Artists' IG: @malialia, @olapakauwila.wilz
Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

37 min
July 10 107. Nā Leo o Papakōlea Firewise x Kaheāwai Media: Creating Fire-Free Homesteads
This week, we're uplifting a community initiative to create fire-free homesteads with Nā Leo o Papakōlea Firewise in partnership with Kaheāwai Media. Together, they produced the Creating Fire-Free Homesteads civic action toolkit, an extensive multimedia web resource with video clips, templates, and other resources.
Noel Shaw and Anuhea Kanealiʻi are members of the Firewise committee of Nā Leo o Papakōlea, the homestead association of Papakōlea, Kewalo, and Kalāwahine homesteads. NLOP Firewise received an Urgent Action Grant in 2024 to support their organizing to make their homesteads a safe and thriving place to live by reducing the risk of wildfire destruction.
Tyler Sonnemaker is co-founder and storyteller at Kaheāwai Media, a civic media organization launched in the spring of 2025 that envisions a Hawaiʻi media ecosystem abundant with stories, storytellers and storytelling practices that uplift ʻāina, community, and collective liberation.
NLOP Firewise IG: @homesteadfirewise
Kaheāwai Media: kaheawaimedia.com, IG: @kaheawaimedia
34 min
July 01 106. Community Wellbeing: Project Koa Yoga and Kalauokekahuli
A conversation with Laura Toyofuku-Aki from Project Koa Yoga and Kāhealani Collins from Kalauokekahuli about how each of their hui works in support of collective wellbeing and liberation.
Project Koa Yoga educates, trains, and mentors a generation of resilience-centered health educators, equipped to reintegrate the people, land, and culture of Hawaiʻi through a trauma-informed lens.
Kalauokekahuli encourages the healthy growth of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander families by supporting and enhancing the well-being of birthing people, parents, and their infants with holistic, multi-generational, and culturally-rooted care.
To learn more, check out our previous interviews with these organizations:
19. Kalauokekahuli: A New Dawn for Hawaiʻi
37. Project Koa Yoga: Creating Space for Belonging
61. Kalauokekahuli: Becoming a Koʻokua

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii
38 min
June 19 The Pōpolo Project: Redefining What It Means to Be Black in Hawaiʻi (2024)
Happy Juneteenth! In this episode, we’re resharing highlights from an interview from 2024 with Dr. Akiemi Glenn and Jamila Jarmon from the Pōpolo Project. Founded in 2017, the Pōpolo Project is committed to redefining perceptions of Black people in Hawai‘i and creating a deep reconnection to themselves as individuals, to their community, to their ancestors, and to the lands that sustain them.
Listen to the full episode here.
Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii
21 min

About Hawaiʻi Rising

From the publisher's feed

Conversations with grassroots community organizers at the forefront of progressive movements for change and justice in Hawai’i. A podcast series featuring community partners of Hawaiʻi People‘s Fund.