WORKING GROUPS
Funder Hui Working Groups
Our Working Groups provide an important structure of member participation within Funder Hui that have blossomed into a crucial platform to collaboration. These working groups are organized and facilitated by Funder Hui members, providing a platform for leadership and impact for leading foundations. Working groups also provide a place for community groups, non-profits, and community experts to work together around shared priority areas.
Food Systems Funders Working Group
This working group hosts regular meetings, often with a guest speaker in the field of agriculture or food systems, along with those who can speak on government funding and other relevant issues. Over 40 funders are members of this working group. The activities of this working group have led to increased collaboration, learning, and funding in the area of food and farming in Hawai’i.
The Co-Conveners of this working group are Abigail Perrin, Executive Director of Nuestro Futuro Foundation and Amanda Shaw, Director of Food Systems at Oʻahu Resource Conservation & Development Council.
Housing Working Group
This working group meets to learn together about housing and community development models that support families to live and thrive in their home communities. The over a dozen members of this working group convene toward collaborative action, meeting with national and local experts on three areas of strategic alignment:
strengthening the nonprofit developer landscape to increase the supply of affordable housing,
investing in families to support them in attaining their housing and homeownership goals, and
advancing innovative models that preserve housing affordability in perpetuity for local Hawaiʻi families.
Recent discussion topics include: how to strengthen the availability of revolving loan funds and capital for nonprofit developers, emerging nonprofit developer capacity building, and Community Land Trusts. Meetings are offered every other month in a hybrid format.
“The Housing Working Group was founded by a group of philanthropic leaders who share a goal of sup- porting Hawai’i residents to afford a life for themselves and their keiki in their home community. We come together to hold space for private funders to coordinate, share best practices, and learn from housing and community development thought leaders in Hawai’i and nationally.” -Xan Avendaño, Convener of the Housing WG, and Program Officer at Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
Capacity Building Working Group
Recognizing the needs of community organizations doing meaningful work, the Capacity Building Working Group is interested in understanding and addressing those needs by collaborating with and convening funders and other stakeholders with a goal towards collective learning and strengthening the sector. Capacity building creates more resilient and sustainable organizations that have the resources, skills, knowledge, or systems to navigate mission delivery. It is also a way to shift power imbalances by bringing resources, skills, systems, and knowledge to those who lack access to these things. Capacity building highlights that some have whatʻs needed to fulfill their missions while others do not, sometimes to no fault of their own. This group meets bimonthly on Zoom.
The conveners of this working group include Dawn Mahi, Senior Program Officer at Consuelo Foundation, Summer Keliʻipio, Managing Partner of ʻAʻaliʻi Alliance, and Lisa Maruyama of LTM Consulting.
Arts & Culture Working Group
This working group kicks off in November 2025 and will meet quarterly. With recent cuts in federal and state funding, the arts & culture community faces even greater challenges. This working group recognizes arts & culture as essential to Hawai‘i and aims to identify opportunities and challenges and support collaboration and relationship building among funders in this space.
This working group is convened by Elise von Dohlen, Arts & Culture Program Director at Hawaiʻi Community Foundation and Chloe Hartwell.
Community Health Working Group
This working group launched in September 2025 and meets quarterly to build relationships and create opportunities for collaboration and co-learning amongst funders who fund in this space. Community health focuses on improving the well-being of people in specific geographic areas. It addresses health issues through prevention, education, policy, and access to care while considering social and environmental factors.
This working group is co-convened by Gregg Kishaba, Health and Wellness Program Director at Hawaiʻi Community Foundation and Vivian Pham, Community Health Operations Lead for Kaiser Permanente's Hawaiʻi Region.
Education Working Group
This working group launched in February 2023 and met bimonthly to discuss emerging topics in education. The group operates from a philosophy of envisioning a more robust public education system that provides access to a quality education from any school within the State of Hawaiʻi.
This working group is currently on hiatus. If you are an education funder interested in re-convening this working group, please contact us.
New participants or existing members to Funder Hui are welcome to reach out to us to ask questions about any working groups. More working groups may be established if there is interest in other areas. Email aloha@funderhui.org with any questions about or requests to join any of Funder Hui’s working groups.
Anne Keir, Xan Avendaño (far right)
Funder Working Groups Outside of Funder Hui Include:
Environmental Funders Group
This group is independent of Funder Hui. Dues are required to participate in EFG programming. Contact Dana Okana at DOkano@hcf-hawaii.org to request membership information.Hawaiʻi Workforce Funders Collaborative
The Weinberg Foundation, along with the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation (HCF), Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, and Hawaiʻi Medical Services Association (HMSA), recently launched the Hawaiʻi Workforce Funders Collaborative. The Collaborative is open to all private donors active in Hawaiʻi workforce initiatives. Members make an annual contribution that funds the collaborative’s statewide programs, policy work, and cross-sector initiatives.