Hāna nonprofit Ma Ka Hana Ka ʻIke receives $2M gift from billionaire philanthropist

This week, Hāna vocational training organization Ma Ka Hana Ka ʻIke was gifted $2 million by billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, through a $640 million donation campaign involving 361 small nonprofits.

Scott’s Yield Giving Open Call awarded Ma Ka Hana Ka Ike’s (MKHKI) in light of its work as a community-led, community-focused organization whose explicit purpose is to enable individuals and families to achieve substantive improvement in their well-being through foundational resources. 

MKHKI’s mission is to provide East Maui youth (K-12) and graduates in Hāna with a way to learn that makes sense to them, builds their self-esteem, and shows them they have the power to change their future. Its core programs – Hāna Build, Mahele Farm, Mālama Hāloa, and Kahu ʻAi Pono and integrated initiatives – provide hands-on learning opportunities to prepare future and present generations to be community-minded stewards and leaders, according to its website.

“This gift positions us to explore avenues, initiatives, and improvements to our systems, programming, and internal operations previously beyond our reach or capacity,” said Lipoa Kahaleuahi, executive director of MKHKI. “It presents the opportunity to ignite projects that have been waiting in the pipeline for sufficient time and resources, projects that would give us the flexibility to invest in our people, our place, our community.”

In March 2023, Yield Giving launched an Open Call for organizations offering community-led solutions to some of the greatest needs throughout the United States. The Open Call received 6,353 applications and initially planned for 250 awards of $1 million each. In the Fall of 2023, organizations top-rated by their peers advanced to a second round of review by an external Evaluation Panel before a final round of due diligence. In light of the incredible work of these organizations, as judged by their peers and external panelists, the donor team decided to expand the awardee pool and the award amount. 

More information on the Yield Giving Open Call and other initiatives can be found at www.leverforchange.org.