Q: Aloha, Larissa! For those not familiar, how would you describe the work that the Community Grants and Initiatives (CGI) department does?
A: There are three main areas. The first is to oversee grantmaking, which is a main role of Hawaiʻi Community Foundation as a whole. The second aspect is spearheading and managing initiatives that are long term and aim to solve major issues and work toward systems change. And the third element is scholarships, distributing money for higher education.
The work we do is very external facing. We primarily provide support to the community through grants and scholarships, but we also do network building, hosting coalitions and meetings and convening different people and organizations around certain community issues. A lot of this work is with the nonprofit sector, but we also partner with the government and business sectors to help solve some of our community issues and needs, collaboratively.
Q: As you step into this new position, are there any specific challenges or goals you want to tackle?
A: The biggest goal is evolving the CHANGE Framework. Right now, we’re going through a community engagement process to really center and ground community need and voices in the framework, and develop long-term visions for each of the framework sectors to define what we want to achieve as a community.
Also, I think we’re being called on by the community to take a larger role in some of the community issues that we’re involved with. We’re moving from an organization that in the past primarily focused on providing grants, toward building relationships with community partners to help solve systemic issues together. We do that already through our initiatives, but there’s more we can do.
Q: You started with HCF in 2011. Tell me a little bit about your background and the path that brought you to HCF and the world of philanthropy.
A: Similar to Justina, I also got a scholarship from HCF, during my senior year in high school to attend college. I remember being amazed that there was an organization out there providing all these different scholarships. I went off to school, got my degrees, came back home, and I ended up working with a nonprofit called Hawaiʻi Alliance for Community Based Economic Development. I worked there doing policy work around helping families to be self-sufficient in Hawaiʻi—advocating for the Earned Income Tax Credit, and other legislation that would help families to build assets and thrive. And, being in that world, as well as some time at the Governor’s Office, I learned more about HCF’s work, and connections happened, and I ended up joining HCF as a special projects manager. And that evolved into all these different roles within the foundation, and I learned so much working with so many different people and on various program and projects.
The important thing is that I’ve always felt like I was helping our Island community in some way, no matter what topic or subject matter I was involved with. That was always my goal for my career.
Q: When the pandemic hit in 2020, you led HCF’s grantmaking efforts for the Hawaiʻi Resilience Fund. What was that whole experience like?
A: It was chaotic, at first, for sure! We had to get money out immediately to meet the need, and so to a certain extent we scrapped all of our usual processes that we have in place to apply for funds. We opened it up so folks could just email us with requests. And then we came up with an internal system to track and evaluate which ones were highest priority, and brought these top requests to the executive leadership team, who had the OK to approve funding immediately. Over time, it evolved, and we developed rubrics, and started getting feedback on outcomes from the grantees, but in the beginning we had to move very quickly. I am extremely proud of how quickly our team stepped up to support community when other funding sources were not yet available.
Q: Were there lessons learned from the COVID-19 response that are now being folded into HCF’s normal grantmaking process?
A: Oh, definitely. The pandemic has had a huge impact on every organization in Hawaiʻi. At HCF, it’s helped us reassess our grantmaking practices, and we’re now leaning into trust-based philanthropy, and being more explicit about addressing the inequities in our communities, with the goal of making sure that funding and grants go to those who truly need help. And then there are the practical advances in how we work. We’re in the process of moving to a new grantmaking portal, and one great feature is that organizations will be able to see clearly all the things they submitted to HCF in one portal. That wasn’t something we’ve had in the past.
Q: Do you have any words of advice for people who want to start making a difference in their communities?
A: I’d say, seek out opportunities to get involved and give back. It really does build your network and connect you with the community around you. It could be in-person, volunteering with a nonprofit in your community, but there are also so many virtual ways you could pitch in. Just start reaching out to see what the needs are, and it can really give you a direction to go in. Another big one is to vote and get engaged in policy issues. You always see these stats showing how few citizens actually vote, but having a say in who our leaders are is extremely important. That’s an easy way you can help make a difference.
Q: Do you have advice for young people, young women in particular, who might want to pursue a career path like your own?
A: Just keep working hard. Believe in yourself. Ask a lot of questions. Always take on new opportunities and challenges, because you definitely grow and learn from them. And take risks. Sometimes I’m apprehensive about something new, but then I think, you know what, I'm just going to try and give it my best.
Q: HCF keeps you pretty busy, but what do you like to do in your free time?
A: I like to be outdoors and hang out with my family—hiking, biking, playing pickleball, going to the beach, all those fun outdoor things. Even though we live in Hawaiʻi, I think we oftentimes don’t get out there into the fresh air and enjoy it often enough. I recently went with my family to Hawaiʻi Island for vacation, and it was the first time my son had visited a neighbor island. We went to the volcano and saw the lava flow at night, and then we went horseback riding and it was all so much fun. It made me really appreciate the fact that we are fortunate to live here and call Hawai‘i home.
This conversation took place in August 2022.