ʻĀina Centered Philanthropy
Regenerative philanthropy, grounded in ʻāina and guided by Native Hawaiian values, transforms the act of giving from charity to reciprocity, from extraction to regeneration, from control to collective stewardship.
Hoʻiwai Fund offers strategy, advisory, and implementation support to philanthropic institutions and individual donors across the state—translating relationships into action and ideas into impact.
ʻIke Kupuna
✳︎
Hoʻokupu
✳︎
Kuleana
✳︎
Kūkulu Hou
✳︎
Hoʻopono
✳︎
Mālama ʻĀina
✳︎
ʻIke Kupuna ✳︎ Hoʻokupu ✳︎ Kuleana ✳︎ Kūkulu Hou ✳︎ Hoʻopono ✳︎ Mālama ʻĀina ✳︎
-
Regenerative philanthropy begins with remembering that wealth is not measured in dollars, but in waiwai — the abundance of relationships, knowledge, and natural resources that sustain life. Guided by the wisdom of our kūpuna, we understand that giving is not a one-way transaction but a reciprocal exchange that maintains reciprocity between ʻāina, aliʻi (leadership), and kanaka (people of place).
-
In a regenerative system, philanthropy is a hoʻokupu, an offering made with humility and gratitude to bolster collective prosperity and abundance. Rather than accumulating and preserving wealth, foundations serve as stewards returning resources to the streams from which they were drawn. This approach rejects extractive models of giving and instead nurtures aloha ʻāina—deep love and responsibility for the land and community. Hoʻokupu also recognizes non-monetary contributions and gifts that both philanthropic and community partners bring to share.
-
Philanthropy is a living practice of kuleana, a responsibility to act in right relationship with others. Regenerative philanthropy shifts control of wealth and decision-making away from institutions and into the hands of communities most impacted by inequity, trusting them to steward their own futures. It honors the intelligence of the ʻāina and the ʻohana who care for it, aligning investment and governance structures with values of justice and collective wellbeing.
-
Where extractive philanthropy sustains the power of the few, regenerative philanthropy is a practice of kūkulu hou—new systems rooted in abundance, interdependence, visible accountability, and care. Endowments are reimagined as communal resources that nourish worker cooperatives, community land trusts, and locally rooted economies. The goal is not to exist in perpetuity, but to ensure that ʻāina and lāhui can thrive perpetually.
-
Regenerative philanthropy also embraces hoʻoponopono, the process of making things right. It acknowledges the harms of colonial accumulation and uses wealth to repair the damage caused to land and people. Through deep listening and collective decision-making, it seeks to restore pono—balance between giver and receiver, human and nature, past and future generations.
-
Ultimately, regenerative philanthropy is an act of mālama ʻāina—to care for that which cares for us. By redistributing wealth, democratizing power, and investing in the collective capacity of communities, we cultivate a philanthropic ecosystem that regenerates both people and the planet.
2025
Waikapū
Hoʻiwaiwai →
We are a part of an ecosystem re-imagining philanthropy in Hawaiʻi. If you found your way here, something is probably already shifting.
Maybe you've written checks for years and started wondering whether they're reaching the root of anything. Maybe you've inherited wealth you didn't ask for and feel the weight of what to do with it. Maybe you're a funder who's tired of the performance of due diligence: the site visits that feel extractive, the reports no one reads, the distance between your boardroom and the communities you say you serve.
Conventional philanthropy was designed to make wealth feel generous without asking it to change. Ho'iwai Fund is built on a different premise: that wealth carries kuleana: a shared responsibility to restore balance, sustain ʻāina, and advance ea — the sovereignty, life, and breath of Hawaiʻi. And that the most powerful thing a wealth holder can do is enter into genuine relationship with the people and places their resources could serve.
This is not a comfortable ask. It is an honest one.
Hoʻiwaiwai
The Hoʻiwaiwai process is ʻāina centered philanthropy in practice. Through our first two cohorts, we placed flexible, trust-based resources directly in the hands of Māui island wāhine leaders and grassroots stewards — then stepped back and trusted the process.
What happened next was not what conventional philanthropy would have predicted or allowed. Those leaders redistributed support in ways that extended far beyond the original intent: mobilizing youth to defend water rights, sustaining cultural practices that hold community together across generations, rebuilding food systems that funders had never thought to fund. They demonstrated that when wealth is returned without conditions, community intelligence fills the space.
This is what waiwai looks like when it moves.
Read more about our Hoʻiwaiwai program.
If these values are calling you toward a different relationship with wealth, we want to be in conversation with you. This process is not a transaction, it is a journey into right relationship with ʻāina, with community, and with your own kuleana.
We are a small team and we are intentional about the relationships we enter. If you feel called to this work, tell us who you are and where you are in your giving journey. We will get back to you within 5-7 business days.