HAPA Newsletter
Letter from the Executive Director
A big mahalo for all the ways you have taken action this year. I bet you didn’t know that HAPA subscribers are often providing the majority of testimony, public comments and engagement on the alerts we generate. Whether it is submitting legislative testimony or public comments, you all are on it. For example, of the legislative alerts we sent out in the 2024 legislative session, HAPA subscribers provided 62% of the testimony in support on average! Mahalo for showing up and taking action.
In the spirit of growing our collective impact, the fabulous HAPA team has highlighted some of our campaigns under our four program areas, and ways you can engage in the sections below.
As we gear up for the upcoming legislative session please encourage a friend, colleague or family member who shares our values to sign up for our mailing list. The more community members we reach, the more impactful our collective engagement will be.
Here is the link to sign up for your convenience!
We’re full of gratitude from the outpouring of support for HAPA’s 10 year anniversary. If you haven’t already, check out the photos from the gala, it was a banger! To continue to build capacity for our work going into 2025 we are providing a special limited edition 10th anniversary t-shirt designed by illustrator Ashley Lukashevsky, be sure to get yours before the end of 2024.
While there is so much devastating news and justified anxiety around national politics, we find solace in taking action at the local level. We are leaning into the nourishing relationships, the pilina we build in community and the connection to ʻāina that sustains us and helps us to move from a place of grounded hope and aloha.
Wishing you all a peaceful and joyous holiday season!
In solidarity,
Anne Frederick
Executive Director
Fair and Sustainable Food Systems
by Fern Holland, Fair and Sustainable Food Systems Director
We are forging ahead with transcribing and analyzing the data for RUP (Restricted Use Pesticide) reporting for 2020 and 2021 and are prepared to start mapping this data. This will result in three years of data and insight into the RUP use happening across Hawai’i. We continue to be concerned about the heavy use of fumigants in north central O’ahu. We will be pushing this coming legislative session again to improve data reporting, provide significant buffer zones around schools and public parks and join other states in putting bans and major restrictions on the use of neonicotinoid (systemic) pesticides, which have become the most heavily used class of insecticides globally.
I will be stepping down from my current HAPA role as the Director of Fair and Sustainable Food Systems and transitioning in January to a part time position as the Pesticide and Public Health Campaign Director. This is to allow myself the time and attention that my new role as an elected Councilmember on the Kauaʻi County Council deserves. My role will become more focused on continuing our important pesticide work internally but will move away from lobbying and the wider food systems work. I can assure you my passion for supporting the transition of our agricultural sector to a regenerative system and closing the gaps in our food system is something I will continue to work on and remain focused on in both my personal life and in my new role as a Kauaʻi County Councilmember.
Also, HAPA is proud to be a member of the Hawaiʻi Hunger Action Network, and ramping up our support this year for policies to grow food equity and access in Hawaiʻi. Did you know that 1 in 3 Hawaii households are food insecure? One tangible action you take today is to sign on to this letter in support of Universal Free School Meals for all students, which we will be advocating for alongside our coalition partners this session! Look out for HAPA’s full FSFS policy agenda in the new year.
Reclaiming Democracy
By Aria Juliet Castillo,
Reclaiming Democracy Director
Support Good Governance Reforms at the Legislature
Join HAPA and our partners in advocating for common sense good governance reforms to make the legislative process more transparent and equitable.
With a new House Speaker and the reorganization of chairmanships, the Thirty-Fourth Legislature of the State of Hawai‘i has the perfect opportunity to adjust the rules before the 2025 session.
HAPA, Common Cause, Our Hawaiʻi, and the Clean Elections Coalition are advocating for simple, practical rule changes that will make our legislative process fairer, more transparent, and more accessible for everyone. We have been working with community members at the neighborhood boards on Oʻahu and other groups across the state to pass resolutions that call for essential changes to legislative rules.
This coverage by Ashley Mizuo, Advocacy groups seek to change how bills move through the House | Hawai'i Public Radio explains how these pro-Democracy reforms and the benefits they provide. Please also take a moment to sign on to this petition in support!
Hoʻomaikaʻi to the Kuleana Academy Alumni Elected to Office!
We are thrilled to extend our heartfelt congratulations to KA alum and HAPA’s Fair & Sustainable Food Systems Director, Fern Anuenue Holland, who finished 7th and won a seat on the Kauaʻi County Council. This marks Fern’s second campaign for the council, and her dedication has paid off in securing a seat to represent Kaua‘i.
Fern’s victory is part of a larger celebration for our alumni, with 9 others winning their re-elections and continuing their service in public office. They are joined by Councilmember Matt Weyer, representing O‘ahu’s North Shore, who was not up for re-election this year. Together, these 11 alumni currently serving in office that demonstrate a steadfast commitment to leadership and community engagement.
On Hawaiʻi Island, Councilmember Heather Kimball and Councilmember Jennifer Kagiwada were re-elected on the Hawaiʻi County Council.
In Maui County, they reelected Representative Terez Amato of Kīhei and Representative Mahina Poepoe (her district includes East Maui, Molokaʻi, and Lānaʻi.)
Councilmember Tamara Paltin, who represents West Maui, Councilmember Shane Sinenci, who represents East Maui, Councilmember Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, who represents Molokaʻi, and Councilmember Gabe Johnson, who represents Lānaʻi, all won their re-elections.
On Oʻahu, Representative Amy Perruso of Wahiawā won her reelection campaign.
*HAPA is not implying support for any candidate and did not participate in any political campaigns. As a 501c3 we are non-partisan, and do not support candidates or political campaigns.
Applications for Kuleana Academy’s 8th Cohort Open January 1st!
Stay tuned. Applications will be opening shortly for our next Kuleana Academy cohort. You can sign up for alerts here.
Help us spread the word to any community leaders who could benefit from this training. Hear what our alumni have to say about the program.
Base Building Update By Kaiakahinaliʻi Kaʻōpua-Canonigo, Lead Organizer
O wāhi mai ʻo Lono!
E lākou ala, lonoikamakahiki! I hope you all have been having a restful and reflective makahiki season, and making ready for what is to come.
The beginning to this kau hoʻoilo has been fruitful with successful programs and pilina from all of our program areas. In the Fair & Sustainable Food Systems program area, at the end of November we wrapped up our first annual Ka ʻAi Kamahaʻo cohort, in collaboration with Hawaiʻi Appleseed utilizing the Movement Building for Ea curriculum. This one-day-a-week organizing and empowerment training spanned over 4 weeks, and was a beautiful gathering of folks from different Food Systems spaces across the Pae ʻĀina. Each session was centered around different Aloha ʻĀina movements in Hawaiʻiʻs history and the organizing strategies, tactics, and perspectives that not only made them successful in their fight, but cultivated a generational renaissance to place ʻike kupuna and Aloha ʻĀina values at the center of our movements.
Mahalo piha to Hālau Kū Māna PCS, ʻAihualama Loʻi, Ka Papa Loʻi ʻo Kānewai, and Kakoʻo ʻŌiwi for hosting our group and allowing us to get on the ʻāina after our workshop to do some hana.
We are grateful to be working with and offering these training sessions to organizations doing transformational work in our communities. If you would like to set up a time to meet and talk story about the Movement Building for Ea, our base-building efforts, or anything that HAPA can possibly support you and your community with, please feel free to reach out to me at 808-445-5787 or hina@hapahi.org, and I would gladly make time to kūkākūkā.
Wishing you and your community abundance and aloha in the coming season. E alu pū kākou.
Social and Economic Justice By Kencho Gurung, Communications Organizer
As we face threats of massive jail and incarceration system expansion throughout the pae ʻāina, HAPA has recently joined the ACLU Hawaiʻi’s Reimagining Public Safety Coalition, a hui that is “working to transform Hawaiʻi's safety system away from policing and incarceration toward an intersectional public health and wellness based approach to community safety.”
Working towards well-being and safety for our communities, we must invest in community care and support rather than incarceration.
Follow the Coalition on Instagram and Facebook!
Kuleana Academy Alumni Gathering
As always our Kuleana Academy gatherings leave us inspired and recharged from the work these incredible leaders are doing in their communities. We look forward to growing the Kuleana Academy network with our new cohort in 2025!
Please consider an end of year donation to HAPA!
Your support at any level is meaningful and appreciated.
