ʻĀina Aloha Economic Futures - Collective Action

Initiative Goals

Initiate and execute a process to gather grassroots community input to develop a vision for Hawaiʻiʻs economic future that is grounded on a core set of values that embrace our unique island culture and identity.

Empower, through a collective process, a broad spectrum of voices throughout Hawaiʻi who care about the well-being of our environments and communities and who see that our current economy has not supported that.
Demonstrate an inclusive process as a successful model that should be applied in further contexts
Demonstrate effective servant-leadership with solutions
Encourage adoption of core values and collective proposals
Change the narrative, change our future

What are our collective actions?

Co-create with a community-first process, through a series of engagement steps, to provide opportunities for community members and thought leaders to elevate solution-based ideas that will guide Hawai'iʻs economic recovery.

Step 1: Declare core values

Propose a set of guiding principles to offer a foundation for a collective effort and provide an opportunity for community stakeholders to unify around common, core values.

Step 2: Set an action agenda

Gather broad based community input to develop a second document that delves deeper than the Declaration and will offer actionable guidelines from which specific policies and projects can be developed in various areas of economic interest.

Seek and integrate community input.
Circulate the Huliau Action Agenda and seek signatory support for the initiative.

Step 3: Develop proposals

Once the Action Agenda is solidified, a rubric will be developed that can guide decisions by policy makers, businesses, organizations, and community members about Hawai‘i's economic future. Online work sessions will be held to develop specific proposals. Sign-ups for the online work sessions will open in mid-June.

Step 4: Move forward

Build coalitions with other entities advancing similar proposals, provide the rubric to decision makers, business owners, and community members, and together take action to achieve the changes in an economic future grounded in ʻĀina Aloha.

How do we hope people will respond?

We hope that community members at-large will:
1. Respond by promoting and adopting the core values into their daily routines;
2. Seek out leaders and projects in their own communities that embody these values;
3. Engage in the ʻĀina Aloha Economic Future effort by sharing ideas and lifting up projects in their own communities that can or are effectively responding to our “new normal."

We hope that the private sector (large organizations, institutions, and business sector leaders) will respond by:
1. Engaging their networks to work alongside grassroots community partners to implement the work happening on the ground, at the community level;
2. Adopt and promote the ʻĀina Aloha core values in their decision-making processes

We hope that the public sector (government agencies and elected officials) will respond by making swift policy changes that allow the values and ideas borne of this community-based process to become real components of our daily lives and part of the “new normal."

Declaration Authors

The ‘Āina Aloha Economic Futures declaration was drafted by a group of Native Hawaiian community members: Amy Kalili, Davis Price, Ikaika Hussey, Joseph Lapilio, Kalani Kaʻanāʻanā, Kamana Beamer, Ph.D., Kēhaunani Abad, Ph.D., Keoni Lee, Lanakila Mangauil, Mahinapoepoe Paishon-Duarte, Nāʻālehu Anthony, Noe Noe Wong-Wilson, Ph.D., Ryan Gonzalez, and Ulalia Woodside. They came together organically after separate discussions brought forth common sentiments regarding the need to have Native Hawaiian voices, values, and experiences influence the economic recovery for our ʻāina aloha. The signatories listed reflect the interconnected and overlapping roles that individuals, ʻohana, organizations, coalitions, and networks play in our communities. This declaration served as a starting point to facilitate broader engagement and collective action in support of an economic future rooted in ‘āina aloha.