Honoring the Legacy of Jane Renfro Smith

In Memoriam: Jane Renfro Smith

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Jane Renfro Smith. As the first president and chief executive officer of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, Jane made an immeasurable impact not only on the foundation, but on Hawaiʻi—dedicating her career to making the Islands a better place.

“Jane really paved the way for the philanthropic work we do today,” says Micah Kāne, HCF CEO and president. “The Hawaiʻi Community Foundation would not be what it is today without her strong leadership and enduring commitment to a thriving community.”

Prior to 1987, the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation was called the Hawaiian Foundation, originally founded by the Hawaiian Trust Company to handle unclaimed deposits from persons who died without a will, distributing them to those in need. Increasingly, the Hawaiian Foundation began to attract donations from the philanthropic minded, and it was decided that HCF should be reincorporated as its own independent foundation, with multiple trustees and a board of governors to ensure that grants would be made to benefit the community.

Jane, a vice president at the Hawaiian Trust Company at the time, was appointed as HCF’s first president and CEO in 1988, and tasked with creating grant programs to connect the interests of donors with the needs of the community.

It was a formidable challenge, but Jane proved more than up for it. “When we first came out of the Hawaiian Trust Company, we were sitting on borrowed chairs, in temporary office space, and there were three of us,” recalls Janis Reischmann, now executive director at the Hauʻoli Mau Loa Foundation, who worked with Jane as VP of HCF. “By the time Jane left, a decade later, HCF had a staff of more than 40, managing more than $215 million in assets, and achieving a national presence in the philanthropic world.”

Janis says she was always impressed by Jane’s courage. “She was always willing to stand up for the things she believed in. She wasn’t strident or in your face, but she would hold her ground,” she remembers. “She also had a deep compassion for others and was committed to ensuring those who are sometimes not heard had clear voices. She had an unshakeable faith in the power of possibility, in the idea that the resources are out there, and we just have to find a way to tap into them.”

Jane left HCF in 1998, passing its leadership to Kelvin Taketa, who would serve as CEO and president for the next 19 years. But she never gave up her passion for community work, remaining an active volunteer with a range of nonprofit organizations, advocating for women coming out of the corrections system, as well as tackling conservation and environmental issues.

In a 2016 interview recorded as part of HCF’s centennial anniversary, Jane reflected on the more than 30 years she spent with the foundation, and said she was proud to see HCF continuing her work: “One of our goals was to expand the concept of philanthropy to diverse audiences in the community, so that we had a true eclectic foundation that mirrored the profile of Hawaiʻi.”

All of us at HCF mahalo Jane for her commitment to Hawai‘i and send our warm regards to her ‘ohana, colleagues and friends. We will continue to carry on her legacy in the years to come.

Read more Stories of Impact