Joel Olani Lilly is the founder of Changemakers Hawaiʻi and is responsible for the funding, development and implementation of programs focused on eliminating poverty and empowering underserved communities in Hawaiʻi.

Olani is a dreamer and a doer. Her goal has always been to empower the Native Hawaiian community. Her career, spanning 15 years in educational environments, project management and financial administration, has resulted in an exceptional track record of creating and implementing programs and long-term strategies aimed at organizational growth.

She continues to work virtually as a Senior Curriculum and Training Specialist with Synergy Enterprise Incorporated reviewing grant proposals, coaching grantees and creating and evaluating training materials for indigenous populations. As a grant writer with the Hawaiʻi County Economic Opportunity Council, she raised $4.3 million from government, foundations and businesses in one year and had a 70 percent grant award success rate.

In the educational arena, she has provided her expertise in various roles to Ka ʻUmeke Kāʻeo Charter School and Kanu O ka ʻĀina Learning Ohana, where she raised $6.5 million and obtained construction loans for the development and construction of Phase one of Kauhale ‘Oiwi O Puʻukapu, the permanent campus for the charter school.

Olani also served as the Executive Director of Pukoʻa Kani ʻĀina Community Development Corporation from 2009 to 2013 and Project Coordinator for State of Hawaiʻi Office of Youth Services from 1996 to 2001.