Community & Organizational Capacity Building

Since its founding, HACBED has built a body of information, experience, and expertise to support the field of community-based economic development by:

  • providing organizational capacity development support to nonprofit CBED organizations across the state and elsewhere;
  • assisting CBED organizations through trainings, workshops, coaching, technical assistance, and other support services; and,
  • implementing field building strategies to improve the environment in which community-based organizations must operate in Hawai`i.

The organizations described below are some of the more than 350 nonprofit and community-based partners that HACBED has served in Hawai`i over the past 10 years.  In the past four years alone, HACBED has conducted in-depth organizational assessments of more than 85 nonprofit organizations.  These have been conducted through individual contracts with organizations and/or through contracts with private and public funders providing assistance to their grantees.  This experience provides HACBED with a perspective of organizational development from an organizational life cycle and systems perspective.  These organizations ranged in size from large to small and in stage of development from new and emerging organizations to long established organizations.  Work conducted for private and public funders include:

  • Compassion Capital – Hawaiʻi Moving Forward. Work for the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, University of Hawaiʻi – Center On The Family, and Hawaiʻi Island Ministries to conduct organizational assessments of organizations involved in the various cohorts of the Compassion Capital Program from 2003 to 2008.
  • Geist Foundation. Organizational assessments of 14 foster care organizations.
  • Compassion Capital. Organizational assessment conducted for youth servicing organizations that were members of the Hawai`i Youth Services Network’s Compassion Capital program.
  • Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. As part of its Kulia I Ka Nu‘u program, HACBED provides organizational assessment support, training, and technical assistance for Hawaiian Homestead organizations on all islands.
  • SNAP Inquiry. HACBED was contracted by the Department of Human Services (DHS) to train and provide technical assistance to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) staff, SNAP participants, and SNAP Nutrition Education (SNAP-ed) Providers using the “Appreciative Inquiry” approach to connect personal stories to the target population.

In the same period, HACBED has also provided technical assistance to more than 30 community-based and CBEDOs for strategic planning, feasibility analyses, and business planning.  Examples of this work include:

  • North Shore Community Land Trust (NSCLT) on Oʻahu. Using analyses of current work and on-island climate, HACBED staff members assisted the NSCLT in updating their strategic plan to guide the organization’s short- and long-term actions.
  • Epic ʻOhana. HACBED staff members met with members from all of EPIC ʻOhana’s programs as well as various Child Welfare Services units including those in Honolulu, Kapolei, Kona, and Hilo to collect their feedback on EPIC ʻOhana services and produce a five-year strategic plan. 
  • Hoa ʻĀina O Mākaha in Mākaha, Oʻahu. HACBED worked with Hoa ʻĀina to support its organizational sustainability, leadership development, and emerging partnerships.
  • Molokaʻi Homestead Farmers Alliance (MHFA). HACBED assisted the MHFA with business planning services, specifically for the repair of the Lanikeha Center in Hoʻolehua, Molokaʻi.
  • Nā Kūpuna A Me Nā Kākoʻo O Hālawa in Hālawa Valley on O`ahu. Over the past year, HACBED has provided facilitation and technical support for strategic planning, board development, operational support, and development of a sustainability plan
  • Waiohuli Hawaiian Homesteaders Association on the island of Maui. Conducted stakeholder interviews and feasibility analysis for place-based and culturally relevant opportunities for the use of a soon-to-be constructed community center and commercial kitchen.
  • Hoʻoulu ʻĀina – Kokua Kalihi Valley in Kalihi Valley on O`ahu. Conducted feasibility analysis for culturally appropriate venture development concepts for the 100 acre Hoʻoulu ʻĀina Nature Preserve of Kokua Kalihi Valley that provides comprehensive family services and operates the Charles Judd Community Health Center.
  • Hui No Ke Ola Pono. Conducted an organizational assessment and strategic planning process for this Maui based nonprofit organization that is part of the statewide Native Hawaiian Health Care System.
  • Ke ʻAnuenue Area Health Education Center Inc. Conducted a strategic planning process for this Hawai‘i Island based nonprofit.
  • Waipā Foundation in the Hanalei/Waipā area on the island of Kauaʻi. Feasibility analysis and business planning support was provided to Waipā Foundation for implementation of components of its master land use plan for its 1,600 acre ahupuaʻa.
  • Mala Ai ʻOpio (MAʻO) on the Waiʻanae Coast of Oʻahu. Over the past 3 years, HACBED has provided facilitation and technical support to MAʻO for organizational assessments, strategic planning, and design and implementation of a statewide conference on community food security.
  • Hawaiian Islands Land Trust (HILT). HACBED provided support to the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust at their annual board retreat. HACBED helped staff and board create a vision statement as well as update their mission statement and values. HACBED also worked with staff and board to revisit their draft strategic plan and strategic planning process to come to shared clarity around strategic, development, marketing, and operations areas.
  • Hālau Kū Māna Strategic Plan. Organized and executed strategic planning process for HKM, a Hawaiian-focused public charter school  in Makiki that serves students from 4th through 12th grades.
  • Going Home Hawai’i Island Strategic Plan. Provided strategic planning services to Going Home Hawai’i, a consortium of over 50 public and private entities currently totaling over 250 members dedicated to the reintegration of former offenders and formerly incarcerated individuals.
  • Kahua Paʻa Mua: Hoʻokahua ʻai Mentorship Program – HACBED served as the Project Evaluator for Hoʻokahua ʻai. HACBED team members coordinated data collection and analysis, interviews, report-writing, and other evaluation-related activities, allowing KPM staff members to dedicate more time to project participants. HACBED’s experience in capacity building and other technical assistance services has allowed for continuous improvement of the program’s operations.
  • KUA Strategic Business Plan Support – HACBED partnered with Kua‘āina Ulu ‘Auamo (KUA), “a backbone organization that supports grassroots growing through shared responsibility.” HACBED was asked to support a strategic planning-like process combined with additional financial training and organizational assessment.

Other examples of HACBED’s community and organizational capacity building to support networks of organizations include:

  • The Hoʻohiapo Network – A network which included faculty members of Hawaiʻi high schools, support service providers, and community-based organizations, and aimed to lift-up indigenous approaches to education and youth development. HACBED conducted a significant amount of engagement with high school campuses;  facilitated and coordinated activities; and participated in collaborative grant writing, evaluation, and the creation of final reports for this project.
  • Puna Community Resilience & Capacity Building Support – A collaboration between the County of Hawaiʻi, HACBED, and other community partners to build community resilience in areas such as emergency food security, disaster preparedness, and family homelessness. The project focused on strengthening connections and growing partnerships between communities and community organizations through capacity building support and community resilience and asset mapping workshops.
  • One ʻOhana: Food and Housing for All – In collaboration with the Office for Social Ministry, HACBED provided technical assistance and support to the 66 Catholic parishes of Hawaiʻi, exploring the transition of their food ministries from an “emergency food” mindset to a more sustainable, nutritious, and community-based approach.
  • East Hawai’i Ulu Planting & Intercultural Sharing Program – In late 2014, HACBED and Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pāhoa conducted community asset mapping exercises for the Pāhoa area. Widespread limitations in transportation and access to land quickly became apparent. These problems have made the preservation of ancestral practices difficult, both among migrant and native populations. Most starkly affected are these groups’ traditional food production techniques. Thus, with the help of many collaborators and support from the Laura Jane Musser Fund, HACBED created the East Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Planting and Intercultural Sharing Program. Intended to increase both transportation and common access to community and parish land, the project is providing open, inclusive, and culturally-grounded gatherings and shared areas for the expression of cultural knowledge.
  • Hawai`i Community Foundation & Hawai`i Tourism Authority – Conducted a strategic dialogue process with the advisory groups that make up HTA’s Natural Resources & Kukulu Ola: Living Hawaiian Culture Programs to inform the new partnership in which HCF will administer the two grantmaking programs for HTA.
  • Kupaianaha – through a contract with the State of Hawaii Office of Planning, HACBED’s efforts helped to encourage and guide investment by the private sector and government agencies in culturally, socially and environmentally compatible economic development projects and strategies in and adjacent to native Hawaiian homestead communities throughout the state of Hawaii.
  • The Community Connection – a nine month training and technical support program conducted by HACBED for CBED organizations that are planning and/or implementing economic ventures was held in 1994, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2006. More than 320 grassroots CBED leaders from over 150 CBED organizations from all islands have participated in CommConn.  Some of the primary sponsors of The Community Connection have included the State DBEDT, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Bank of Hawai`i, American Savings Bank, Hawai`i Community Foundation, the City & County of Honolulu, the County of Hawai`i, the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, the National Rural Funders Collaborative, and the Kosasa Family Foundation.
  • Schools Of The Future – through a contract with the Hawai`i Community Foundation and in partnership with the Hawai`i Association of Independent Schools, HACBED provided facilitation and technical support for learning circles being formed in and between the 20 schools chosen to be part of HCF’s Schools Of The Future
  • Youth Matters Network – through a contract with the Hawai`i Community Foundation, provided facilitation and technical support to establish and conduct learning circles for 18 nonprofit youth serving organizations in
  • Workshops & Trainings – workshops and trainings have been organized and conducted on such topics as microenterprise development and lending, Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), the Community Reinvestment Act, commercial real estate development for nonprofits, developing and managing food processing business incubators, systems thinking, media – communicating values and shaping opinions, fundamentals of nonprofit management, nonprofit organizational assessment, and others. In 2000, HACBED was awarded the Niu Award from Volunteer Legal Services of Hawai`i for nonprofit training.
  • County of Hawai`i Department of Research & Development – designed and implemented a leadership development training collaborative for nonprofit and community based groups on Hawai`i Island through a contract with the County of Hawai`i.
  • Department of Hawaiian Home Lands – through a contract with DHHL, HACBED conducted a 7 month capacity building training and technical assistance program for 35 Hawaiian Homestead Associations from across the State.
  • Editorial Board & Board of Directors of The Nonprofit Quarterly – in 2001, HACBED was appointed to the editorial board of The Nonprofit Quarterly, a national publication for the nation’s nonprofit sector, and was also a founding board member of the Nonprofit Information Networking Association that publishes the Quarterly.
  • Field Building Consulting Services – based on its organizational assessment, strategic planning, and organizational capacity building work, HACBED has provided field building services for organizations in such areas of interest as faith-based organizations, and foster care. Citibank and the National Alliance for Nonprofit Management also contracted HACBED to provide a field building workshop to Asian and Pacific Island CBED organizations from California and Florida.
  • Hawai`i VITA & Financial Empowerment Program – we provided free tax assistance to low-to-moderate income Hawai`i residents from 2006 to 2016. In that period, we saved over 32,000 Hawai`i taxpayers more than $5.8 million in tax preparation fees.
  • Hina`i: Hawai`i Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture – having grown from community engagement opportunities, this Network increased food security and experiential and place-based education opportunities, ultimately aiding the restoration of ancestral abundance and pathways for self-governance.
  • Ho‘owaiwai Network Kohala Collaboration– Building on the work of network partners–including a diverse coalition of nonprofits, government departments, social service agencies, and businesses–HACBED worked to determine the feasibility of expanding and deepening the impact of the Hoʻowaiwai Network by conducting a planning process with support for potential pilots in collaboration with partners in North Hawaiʻi.
  • Kīpuka Lāna‘i Farms (KLF) – HACBED partnered with KLF for the Lima Huli Project Lānaʻi which aimed to foster economic, cultural, and environmental well-being among Lānaʻi residents in an ʻāina-based, skills-focused, educational context. HACBED worked to support KLF’s efforts to support the Lānaʻi community and steward the historic ahupuaʻa of Pālāwai.
  • Youth Food Sovereignty Congress – In June of 2018, MAʻO Organic Farms engaged HACBED to plan a convening of youth voices on the topic of food sovereignty among indigenous populations. HACBED worked alongside four of MAʻO’s Hoʻowaiwai Youth Leadership Training (HYLT) interns to plan and organize the Hoʻōla ʻĀina Youth Food Sovereignty Congress (YFSC). 
  • Partners In Development Foundation – In 2022, HACBED supported Partners in Development Foundation’s (PIDF) Strategic Plan implementation. The leadership and program management teams convened and collaborated to solidify existing strategic plan goals and outcomes, create detailed action steps to measure progress, and identify staff roles necessary in order to move towards achieving identified outcomes by the end of PIDF’s three-year target period.
  • Affordable Hawaiʻi for All (AHA) Fellows – HACBED provided convening, facilitation, recording, synthesis, and follow-up support to the AHA Fellows and the supporting organizations. The Affordable Hawaiʻi for All (AHA) Fellows consisted of emerging leaders who come from diverse backgrounds and who each have lived-experience in communities that struggle to find or sustain housing. The Support Team included Hawaiian Community Assets, Hawaiʻi Appleseed, James Koshiba and Cathy Kawano-Ching, and HACBED. The main goal of the support team was to uplift AHA Fellows’ project ideas to address housing affordability issues in their communities as informed by their experiences.
  • Convening Resilience Efforts – Created out of the unprecedented impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, a variety of individuals and groups connected to identify points of synergy and alignment, seeking long-term solutions to system challenges under the broad umbrella of ‘resilience’. Participants included representatives from state and local government, nonprofit organizations, and universities. Out of these efforts, three subgroups were formed: Coordinate & Strategize on Policy and Advocacy created a place-based experiential learning pilot, Support Coalitions & Coalition Building of Smaller Actions took an action learning huakaʻi to Hawaiʻi Island, and Build Trust & Mechanisms for Internal & Institutional Relationship Building which used an ahupuaʻa narrative to approach agriculture, food systems, and food security.