Strengthening
the community: the creation of the Hawaii Institute
for Public Affairs (pro bono)
Spurred by what they saw as a lack of
inspired leadership with a sense of mission for the State,
a group of community and business leaders formed the Hawaii
Institute for Public Affairs (HIPA) to fill the vacuum
with action, new energy, and a focused agenda. Their goal:
to provide research, analysis, and recommendations on public
policy issues, as well as opportunities to develop productive
leaders and citizens.
HIPA’s leadership rested on the
shoulders of Bill Kaneko, a young attorney and long-time
advocate of social justice. He asked Ho’akea’s
Barbara Tanabe to chair of a small advisory group of community
and business professionals. Together, they crafted a strategy
to conduct quality research on economic development and
health care in order to provide policy makers with sound
recommendations for the entire community.
This core group invested hundreds of
volunteer hours in seeing funding, encouraging support
among all sectors of the community, developing and conducting
leadership training programs for students, and convening
forums with nationally-recognized experts.
“The first two years were hard
because HIPA had no portfolio, just a vision and a promise
to provide quality work for the benefit of the community.
Barbara provided a commitment to our vision: she attended
meetings, lobbied her business colleagues, helped raise
money and awareness of HIPA. Her presence added credibility
to HIPA and reinforced my personal faith in the quality
of our leaders in Hawaii. We have the best in Hawaii and
more will follow in their footsteps through their example
and inspiration.” —Bill Kaneko
Results:
HIPA is now a not-for-profit, non-partisan,
independent research and educational organization, which
signals “a change in the civic and political landscape
of the state,” according to an editorial in the
Honolulu Advertiser. Among HIPA’s projects are
the:
- New Economy Report
- Blueprint for Rural Health
Care in Hawaii
- Hawaii Long Term Care Policy
Summit
- Hawaii Jobs Summit
- Hawaii Uninsured Project
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