OLA I KA WAI

Ola i ka Wai (Water is Life) is an enduring affirmation of the sacred value of water in Hawaiian culture. It is a rallying cry across the pae ‘āina to safeguard these resources for future generations, and a unifying thread with Indigenous and local communities across the world.

Many of the organizations and community members in this group are some of the frontline leaders and supporters of the movement to Ho‘i ka Wai (Return the Water), so that “justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream”!

Mahalo to the many community organizations working to restore streams and the ways of life that depend on them.

HAWAIʻI FARMERS UNION UNITED

HFUU is composed of 16 Chapters across the Hawaiian Islands. We are represented with a seat on the Hawaiʻi Board of Agriculture.

Our Members are Farmers Union made up of farmers, gardeners, and folks that purchase and consume locally produced products!

We are a grassroots producer-driven organization with leadership demonstrating support for family agriculture as the basis for thriving rural communities. Those communities, in turn, are vital to the health and economic well-being of the entire U.S. economy.

The key to our success and credibility has been Farmers Union’s grassroots structure in which policy positions are initiated locally. Whether the issue is food safety, dairy, specialty crops, trade or any other item facing America’s family farmers – Farmers Union listens to its members.

Our membership includes family farmers, fisherman, ranchers and consumers across of America including the Hawaiian Kingdom. Farmers Union has 25 state/regional organizations but even in states where there is no formal state organization, you’re likely to find Farmers has a presence. If you are from one of these states, join as a member of the national organization.

Register now and become a member today to support fair and sustainable food systems of Hawaiʻi!

RAISE UP HAWAIʻI COALITION

The Raise Up Hawaiʻi coalition grew out of existing efforts to raise the minimum wage in Hawaiʻi to a level that will sustain all of the islands' working families, which form the heartbeat of our state's economy. Advocacy organizations, community organizers, policy researchers, business owners, and everyday workers, from young to old, longtime residents and new arrivals, urban and rural, have come together to build our collective power in the fight for economic justice. 

Today, Raise Up Hawai'i champions policies that deliver financial security for the working class and sustainability for our planet, including paid sick and family leave, tax justice, truly affordable housing, universal healthcare, the creation of good paying green jobs, and more. The coalition is guided by a foundational principle: when workers succeed, everyone prospers. 

PAID LEAVE HAWAIʻI COALITION

Paid Leave Hawaiʻi is a broad coalition of organizations and individuals working to win paid family and medical leave for ALL families in Hawaiʻi. We're building on previous efforts to secure guaranteed paid leave by advocating with legislators. We know families are strongest when we have time to heal from serious illness or injury, welcome a new child, or help a loved one recover or ease their passing. It's time for legislators to put 'OHANA FIRST and pass paid family and medical leave.

CLEAN ELECTIONS HAWAIʻI

Clean Elections Hawai‘i is a coalition of local advocates and organizations pushing for full publicly financed elections in Hawai‘i.

For too long, special interests and wealthy donors have wielded significant power over our legislative system. This power has stifled progress on dozens of issues to help build a Hawai‘i that works for all of us. It’s well past time we get money out of politics and we can do that by ensuring candidates have an opportunity to win elections without the support of big money donations.

We can give power back to the people by adopting full publicly financed elections. This will lead to a more diverse group of candidates and empower legislators to act in the best interests of their constituents rather than worrying about what their donors want.

When our representatives finally represent us, not big money, that’s when we’ll have a shot of preserving our way of life on these islands and building a better future for generations to come.

HAWAIʻI TAX FAIRNESS COALITION

The Hawaiʻi Tax Fairness coalition believes in caring for our families and in leaving things better for our keiki. Investing resources into our schools, hospitals, parks, and programs for working families is how we build a better future for them.

To do that, the state needs tax revenue. We believe the state should collect this revenue from those who can afford to pay more—wealthy taxpayers who have been doing better than ever in recent years thanks, in part, to tax policies that favor the rich.

These policies exacerbate wealth inequality, trap resources at the top where they do no good for the overall economy, and reinforce racial barriers to economic opportunity for people of color.

With your help, we can make our tax code more fair and just while helping the state to better fund our collective future.

HAWAIʻI BLUE ZONES PROJECT

HAPA is a proud participant of the Blue Zones Project. The Blue Zones Project’s vision is a happy and healthy Hawai‘i where people are empowered to care for each other and their community. Ultimately, we want you to live longer, better. Brought to Hawai‘i by HMSA, Blue Zones Project is a community-led, well-being improvement initiative designed to make healthy choices easier through permanent changes to lifestyle, environment, policy, and social networks.

COMMON GOOD COALITION

The People’s Congress ultimately resulted in a dynamic network of partnerships and coalitions. One of the networks to emerge was the Common Good Coalition, a potent partnership between HAPA, Sierra Club, and Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice. The Common Good Coalition has rallied dozens of organizations to participate in regular strategy meetings throughout the 2017, 2018 and 2019 legislative sessions. We find opportunities for solidarity across a range of social, environmental and economic-justice issues. We examine how we can work together to address change on a systemic level.

Policy issues have included affordable housing, climate justice, criminal-justice reform, paid family leave, mitigating houselessness, graduate students’ unionization, minimum wage, pesticide regulation, education, kupuna care, LGBT equality, single-payer health care, tax fairness, food & water security, bail reform, clean energy, oxybenzone (sunscreen) ban, and campaign-finance reform.