Tag Archives: Native Hawaiian serving

Kapi‘olani Awarded Supplemental Funds for Title III Part A Projects

Kapi‘olani Community College successfully applied for supplemental awards for projects funded under the Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions (ANNH) Title III Part A program. The U.S. Department of Education invited awardees to apply for up to $556,000 per eligible project for additional funds to help the institution and its students navigate challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Two of Kapi‘olani’s Title III Part A projects were selected for funding:

Huliāmahi – Joining Together to Support Guided Pathways to Success: A Collaborative Partnership between Kapi‘olani Community College and the University of Hawaii at Mānoa Hawaiʻinuiākea (Nāwa‘a Napoleon & Kelli Goya)
Kūloaʻa: Advancing Indigenous Innovators (Chancellor Louise Pagotto & Kapulani Landgraf)

Congratulations to the successful applicants and best wishes on the continued success of your projects!

Kapi‘olani Awarded Title III Grant for Indigenous Innovators

Kapi‘olani Community College was awarded a five-year federal grant worth $2.5 million from the Title III Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian (ANNH) Strengthening Institutions Program for its project, Kūloa‘a: Advancing Indigenous Innovators.

As part of Kapi‘olani Community College’s commitment to fostering innovation rooted in indigenous values, Chancellor Louise Pagotto and Title III Project Director Kapulani Landgraf envisioned the Kūloa‘a project to develop a cohort of indigenous innovators and engage with co-curricular activities by cultural practitioners and indigenous business and industry professionals. The project will expand transfer curricular pathways to four-year programs in economics and entrepreneurship. Kūloa‘a will further enhance campus fiscal stability by supporting grant programs benefitting Native Hawaiian students and activities.

This project embodies the spirit of the College value of Kūloa‘a, ensuring that the needs of our students are met with support and service, rooted in kū (to stand, to rise; to achieve; to prepare) and loaʻa (to succeed, harvest, obtain, gain). This project will directly benefit the growing population of Native Hawaiian (NH) students from Hawaiian language immersion schools and other public high schools.

Chancellor Pagotto shared, “[t]he motivation for Kūloa‘a stemmed in part from the enthusiastic response of Native Hawaiian students to Kūhaʻo Zane, Jamie Makasobe, Kaleo Wong and Kamaka Pili, indigenous entrepreneurs who presented at that the Kīpaipai Career and Transfer Speaker Series, an activity supported by our current Title III Part A Kauhale ke Kuleana Phase II project. It was clear to me that nurturing the entrepreneurship of our students would provide an important avenue to integrate their cultural heritage and their creative energies.”

Congratulations to Chancellor Louise Pagotto and Kapulani Landgraf, Title III Project Director, for their successful application.

Download the project abstract to learn more about Kūloa‘a.

[pdf-embedder url=”https://ohana.kapiolani.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Abstract_Kuloaa_2020-2025.pdf”]

Featured Fellow: Mark Kunimune Resuscitates Life into Grant Writing

Group shot of Mark Kunimune with students at the loʻi

There are few people who understand the obstacles that First Responders go through like Mark Kunimune does. Mark is right there with his students during ride alongs in the ambulance, teaching them in class, and taking them to de-stress in the loʻi and the ocean. His passion for the EMS program has pushed him to seek out grants to offer a stress management workshop for paramedics and a hybrid (online and in person) EMS and Paramedic program at Kapiʻolani CC. Mark met with Sara Kim (Title III Fellowship & Professional Development Coordinator) for an interview to talk more about stress management workshop goals and the vision behind a new hybrid program.

You have years of experience teaching EMTs and Paramedics, directing programs, and being in the field. As a Fellow you’ve attended trainings to get reacquainted with the importance of stress management for first responders. Could you tell me a little about your International Critical Stress Incident training.

Mark: Getting back involved with Critical Incident Stress Management has been great. I was first involved many years ago as a medic with the City and County of Honolulu. Since then, I have always been interested in the mental well-being of EMS personnel. Being able to take the course last year really helped to rekindle my desire to help EMS providers with stress management. I was invited by Honolulu EMS to take another course in January 2020. The class was done locally and taught by a police officer from Maui and his father, who was the Maui PD Chaplain. It connected me with the City and County’s CISM team and built connections with Honolulu PD.

Kapiʻolani CC EMS touches all of the state’s EMS agencies. The long term plan is to teach the basic courses to all of our students so that all providers have a basic awareness of stress management. Being a Fellow has helped me to take the necessary steps to become an instructor to teach this basic course.

Emergency Medical Service (EMS) employee stress management is a priority with the State of Hawaiʻi EMS Branch. A recent national study of the state’s EMS system recently found that the state’s system is in need of a statewide mental health program.

Mark: When hearing that of my intent to become a CISM instructor, the state EMS branch, offered to fund me through the instructor training process. In exchange, I am to help the state develop a long-term strategic plan to assist provider’s overall stress management and mental well-being.
Through a Title III Fellowship Award, Mark recently was able to take the CISM instructor entrance exam. This exam is one key piece of the instructor application process.

Do you feel your various trainings, credentials, and licenses give you leverage when obtaining grant funding?

Mark: My experiences helped me, but really what’s helped me is you guys [SSC]. The coaching that I’ve gotten from you guys has been really helpful.

Mark also plans on applying for a SEED IDEAS grant this fall to do a Stress Workshop for Emergency Response workers and their families. Classes offered include finance, relationship communication, family rearing and how to deal with stress on the job.

Eventually he could see this stress management workshop becoming an online training for neighbor island emergency response workers along with the EMT and Paramedic hybrid program.

How can Shared Services and the Fellows support you with your projects?

Mark: SSC helps me find the grant and helps me write the grant! You guys have been quick to respond to my questions and with coaching.

With Fellows, we go on our Zoom meetings and it’s been important to verbalize your goals and vision, and they’re real supportive. We’re also all resources for each other and I think that’s really important.

The Shared Services Center is focused on highlighting the accomplishments of the Title III Fellows over the summer through a weekly article published on the Title III Ohana site called, Featured Fellows. To learn more about Fellowships please contact Professional Development & Fellowship Coordinator, Sara Kim at sjohashi@hawaii.edu.

SEED IDEAS awards look to fund projects (up to $5,000) that represent inclusion, diversity, equity, access and success. The Shared Services Center has teamed up with Kapiʻolani CC faculty and staff to successfully obtain funding for multiple campus wide projects.

The next submission date for a SEED IDEAS award is October 2nd, 2020, with an internal deadline to the SSC of Tuesday, September 29th. For assistance in the application process please contact Sara Kim at sjohashi@hawaii.edu. To learn more about SEED IDEA’s grants and funding opportunities, please visit the University of Hawaiʻi SEED IDEA website.