Hawaiian Community Development Board

Hawaiian Community Development Board
Name	Hawaiian Community Development Board
Type	Nonprofit organization
Founded	1970s
Location	Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
Area served	Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi County, Maui County, Kauaʻi County
Focus	Community development, affordable housing, urban planning

Hawaiian Community Development Board is a community-focused nonprofit organization based in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, dedicated to housing advocacy, neighborhood revitalization, and community-led planning. Founded amid broader movements in the 1970s and 1980s for Indigenous rights and urban reform, the Board has worked alongside Native Hawaiian organizations, municipal agencies, and national nonprofits to advance affordable housing, cultural preservation, and community resilience. Its activities intersect with a wide array of stakeholders from local legislators to federal agencies and philanthropic foundations.

History

The Board emerged in the context of social movements such as the Hawaiian Renaissance and policy developments including the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act debates. Early collaboration involved entities like the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and municipal players such as the City and County of Honolulu Planning Department. Influential figures in Hawaiʻi public life—members of the State Legislature, advocates associated with the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, and community leaders from neighboring islands like Maui and Kauaʻi—helped shape its initial priorities. Over time, the Board interacted with national institutions including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Ford Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation while responding to local events such as land use hearings, wahi kūpuna disputes, and coastal management deliberations.

Mission and Programs

The Board’s stated mission centers on advancing affordable housing, supporting kupuna services, and protecting cultural sites. Programmatically, it has engaged in affordable housing development in partnership with the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation and nonprofit developers like Habitat for Humanity of Hawaii. Other initiatives have included workforce housing pilots connected to the University of Hawaiʻi system, resiliency planning linked to the Pacific Islands Climate Partnership, and tenant rights workshops coordinated with Legal Aid Society of Hawaii. Education and outreach efforts have drawn on collaborations with cultural institutions such as Bishop Museum and Kamehameha Schools, while health-related program intersections have involved ʻAhahui o nā Kauka and community health centers.

Organizational Structure

Governance has typically comprised a volunteer board of directors with members representing neighborhood boards, Hawaiian civic clubs, and nonprofit sectors. Staff roles have included an executive director, program managers, community organizers, and grant writers who liaise with state offices like the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and federal bodies like HUD. Advisory relationships have connected the Board to planning commissions, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Department of Urban and Regional Planning, and neighborhood boards across Honolulu, Maui, Kauaʻi, and Hawaiʻi Island. Fiscal oversight procedures have mirrored nonprofit best practices used by organizations such as AARP Foundation and the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Community Impact and Initiatives

The Board has influenced neighborhood plans, contributed to mixed-use affordable housing projects near transit corridors such as rail stations in Honolulu, and supported mauka–makai planning dialogues involving the State Office of Planning. Its community resilience work has intersected with the Pacific Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments program and emergency management entities including the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency. Cultural preservation initiatives have partnered with ʻAha Moku advisory structures and cultural practitioners from lāhui organizations. The Board’s initiatives have also connected to regional economic development efforts involving the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaiʻi and visitor industry stakeholders while informing policy debates in the State Legislature and at county councils.

Funding and Partnerships

Funding streams have combined private philanthropy from foundations like the Kamehameha Schools Financial Aid programs, grants from federal agencies such as HUD’s Community Development Block Grant program, and contracts with state entities including the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation. Partnerships have included nonprofit networks such as Housing Hawaii, the Hawaiian Civic Clubs, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, and national intermediaries like Enterprise Community Partners. Corporate and local partners have ranged from banks that participate in community reinvestment initiatives to cultural nonprofits like the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and museums that host outreach events.

Controversies and Criticism

The Board has faced critiques typical of community development organizations operating in contested land and housing contexts. Some Native Hawaiian activists and ʻāina-based groups have criticized collaborations with developers or state agencies perceived to prioritize market-rate projects over kuleana land stewardship, citing disputes reminiscent of controversies involving large-scale developments and eminent domain debates. Others have raised concerns about transparency and governance in light of complex funding relationships with foundations, lending institutions, and municipal contracts. Debates have sometimes paralleled statewide tensions seen in cases involving the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, rail project controversies, and land-use litigation before the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary.

Category:Organizations based in Honolulu Category:Nonprofit organizations in Hawaii Category:Community development