Widening the Path for ʻĀina, ʻOhana, and Future Generations
During the Philanthropono Spring 2026 Hōʻike, Hoku Kaʻaekuahiwi Pousima’s presentation felt like an invitation to place.
Representing Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili, affectionately known as HuiMAU, Hoku grounded the audience in the ahupuaʻa of Koholālele, in the moku of Hāmākua on Hawaiʻi Island. She described HuiMAU as a community-based organization founded in 2011 and established as a 501(c)(3) in 2015, committed to cultivating kīpuka — safe, regenerative spaces that foster place-based ancestral knowledge, healthy food and ecosystems, and strong ʻohana with the capacity to live and thrive in Hāmākua for generations.
That sense of place carried the entire presentation.
Hoku shared that HuiMAU’s mission and vision are rooted in community and in the understanding that collective health and well-being are directly tied to relationship with the land. The organization’s programs include mālama ʻāina work, reciprocal education and consciousness-raising, and efforts to document the rich history of Hāmākua.
Her case for support focused on capacity: the kind of behind-the-scenes infrastructure that allows big visions to become real. HuiMAU is working toward major community-serving projects, including housing development, an agricultural processing center, and a commercial kitchen. To support that future, Hoku proposed funding a full-time development director — not as a temporary consultant, but as someone embedded in the organization and community.
The ask was clear: $750,000 to fund five years of salary and benefits for a development director who would build and execute HuiMAU’s 2027–2031 fundraising strategy. That strategy would help secure the resources needed to move the housing and agricultural processing center projects forward.
But what made Hoku’s presentation memorable was the way she framed the ask. This was not simply an investment in staffing. It was an investment in capacity, continuity, and the well-being of Koholālele and the communities that call the place home.
Hoku closed with an invitation: “Join us as we continue on the Alu'u Ulili. We will be here, widening and smoothing the way for the knowhopapa of this place, and we hope you will join us on this journey.”
That is the kind of leadership Hoku brought into the Hōʻike: steady, place-rooted, and future-facing.
Hoku Kaʻaekuahiwi Pousima is a Changemakers hero because she reminds us that development is not only about raising funds for projects. It is about widening the path so that ʻāina, ʻohana, and future generations can thrive together.
Ready to strengthen your fundraising practice?
The next Philanthropono cohort is an opportunity to build practical fundraising skills while staying rooted in Indigenous values, relationship, and community care.
Read more and watch other participants and the entire Spring 2026 Kaʻiʻi Hōʻike presentation.
