Women’s Fund of Hawaiʻi awards 9 grants totaling $87,000 to nonprofits empowering women and girls

Women’s Fund of Hawaiʻi announced its Fall 2025 grant awards, totaling $87,000 in support of nine nonprofit programs uplifting and empowering women and girls in Hawai’i.

WFH conducts two competitive grant cycles annually – one in Spring and the other in Fall – to identify and fund innovative programs creating meaningful impact in local communities. The next grant cycle opens March 1, 2026.

WFH accepts contributions to the Fund to be directed exclusively to programs that support women and girls in Hawaiʻi. It runs a community participatory process to review and select grantees.

“This cycle’s grantees reach wāhine statewide—on Oʻahu and across the neighbor islands, addressing the full spectrum of what shapes women’s lives: programs that support health, healing from violence, caring for children, building skills for work, and telling their stories,” said Elisabeth Case, Executive Director.

“Women’s Fund of Hawaiʻi has always been about local people taking care of local people, and
that’s true today,” said Makalika Naholowaa, 2026 Board Chair. “This grant cycle, Women’s
Fund of Hawaiʻi continues several traditions that our 25-year-old organization is proud of. One is our tradition of serving as a vehicle for local people to kōkua in the work to mālama our local communities. Women’s Fund of Hawaiʻi is funded by the many helping hands of everyday kamaʻāina.”

“Another tradition is our commitment to uplifting local women and girls through programs that are culturally relevant to our communities and places. It’s easy to be disheartened at a time when important national institutions seem too distracted or dysfunctional to see or care for local needs. But life is lived locally. Care is given locally. Change is made locally. Women’s Fund of Hawaiʻi invests in grassroots programs because that is where the real work happens—neighbor to neighbor, community to community. With kōkua from our Hawaiʻi ʻohana, we take care of our own. At this moment, that work has never mattered more. Mahalo nui to those across the community who participate in this work and to the grant recipients who are delivering the programs and services that mālama Hawaiʻi’s women and girls,” said Naholowaa.

The Fall, 2025 Hawai’i Grant Recipients:

• “Before the Moon Falls” community engagement campaign – Supporting island-wide screening events of the award-winning Making Waves Films documentary, Before The Moon Falls, about Samoan writer Sia Figiel. The film will be shown directly to women’s organizations and community organizations with activities and discussions that use Sia’s story to explore the unique challenges that girls and women face with mental health and sexual abuse.
• Building Interpersonal & Self-advocacy Skills for the Workplace – A special program serving young girls and/or their caregivers on O’ahu through I Ola Lahui that teaches effective interpersonal skills in the workplace, in order to support their own career development and financial goals.
• EmpowerHer Full Program – Workshops, coaching, and mentorship program on O’ahu through The Growing Ohana that teaches personal growth, life skills, financial literacy, entrepreneurship and microbusiness creation with the goal of helping women launch their own businesses.
• Empowering Women through AI Skills and Workforce Readiness – Workshops, webinars, and mentoring, statewide with Hawai’i Women in Tech, to build AI literacy and prepare local women with the skills needed to thrive in tech and tech-adjacent careers.
• Farmer Navigational Coaching – Maui Farmer Support Network‘s one-on-one coaching and peer gathering groups for women farmers in remote areas of Maui, Molokaʻi, and Lānaʻi on business planning, record keeping, marketing, financial literacy, and access to grants and loans.
• General Operations – Strengthening the organizational capacity of Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking statewide to help amplify the voices, leadership, and stories of wāhine and girls through filmmaking, education, and community programs.
• Haumana KūkāKūkā – He Hoʻomaka Hou Ana Oʻ Puna support groups blending cultural practice with therapeutic mentorship for survivors of domestic violence, substance use, homelessness, and sexual trauma on Hawaiʻi Island.
• Hui Haumea – A new Ka Lei o Ka Lāhui culturally-rooted program for mākuahine (mothers), with an emphasis on Hawaiian mothers though open to all, who have experienced domestic, sexual, and/or family violence and have faced injustice in the legal system, including being mislabeled as abusers, losing custody of their children, or wrongful incarceration.
• The Lactation Fast Pass Pilot 2.0 – Covering the cost for families on Hawaiʻi Island, Kaua’i, Maui, Moloka’i, and Lānaʻi to receive visits at home, virtually or in office with a Breastfeeding Hawaiʻi international board certified lactation consultant at no out of pocket cost.
• Trauma Assessments – Providing assessments for women and girls on Oʻahu who have experienced sex trafficking and violent crimes so they receive individualized, trauma- informed care through Establish’s programs and prevent survivor retraumatization.
• Wahine Ag Internship Program – Providing the next generation of young Kauaʻi women farmers with hands-on agricultural training focusing on orchard planning, installation, and maintenance with experienced women farmers and mentors through Mālama Kauaʻi.

Women’s Fund of Hawai‘i Announces New Board Chair, Makalika Naholowaa, and returning board member Gwen Pacarro

Women’s Fund of Hawaiʻi also announced its incoming Board Chair, Makalika Naholowaa. Naholowaa takes over for Maya Rogers, who has served in many board capacities for 11 years.

Naholowaa has practiced law for more than 15 years, and is an advocate for Indigenous Peoples. She serves as Executive Director of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, a nonprofit law firm advancing Native Hawaiian rights. She also sits on the boards of the Hawaiian Council (formerly CNHA) and Awaiaulu; serves on the Indigenous advisory board for the ACLU of Hawaiʻi; and is a Hawai‘i Access to Justice Commissioner. Makalika holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a B.S. in Mathematics from Arizona State University.

Pacarro is the newest member of Women’s Fund of Hawai‘i’s board, returning after previously serving during its formative years. She spent the majority of her career at Morgan Stanley, where she worked as complex manager for the Hawaiian Islands and Guam, and most recently as a Family Wealth Director.

Now retired, Gwen is dedicated to her community, supporting women and girls in their pursuit of safety, financial security, and empowerment. She recognizes the crucial role of grassroots organizations and the importance of philanthropic funding in addressing persistent inequities, noting that Women’s Fund of Hawai‘i leads the way in tackling these challenges.