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What are the Sustainable Development Goals (and why are they Important)?

Impact Hub HNL is committed to building a more sustainable working environment – not only is this the best thing to do for our community and our planet, it also is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals are a framework for building a better world, and Impact Hub global is committed to working towards these goals.

Building a better and more equitable future for all is the goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the SDGs are the guiding framework for this plan. The SDGs map out the various ways that we can achieve a more sustainable world, including gender equity, improved health and education, elimination of poverty, better cities, and so much more.

Read more about the history and future of the SDGs here, or watch the video below.

Impact Hub global uses the global SDGs, “as a lens through which to view our impact in the world.” So how do Impact Hubs around the world work toward the SDGs:

  • 51 Impact Hubs take part in waste recycling
  • 46 use recycled or sustainable office stationery
  • 45 use energy efficient or energy saving practices
  • 35 use reclaimed or reused office furniture
  • 34 use reusable or compostable catering supplies
  • 20 use green or renewable energy sources

Here at Impact Hub HNL, we have our own sustainability policies in place:

  • We choose only organic coffee and tea for our member beverages, meaning better working conditions and less pesticides in the environment (and in your body)
  • We support local companies to make our beer, ‘booch and nitro, meaning less transport costs and fuels
  • We now have paper recycling in addition to our Hi-5 item recycling. Unfortunately, recycling in Hawaii (and everywhere) is going through a major shift because of China’s recent decision to no longer accept recyclables from the US; we’ll continue to do as much as we can to reduce.
  • For our events programming, we don’t allow single-use plastic (bottles, cutlery, or containers) for our events programming, and generally we are working towards being a zero-waste facility.
  • Our facility uses super energy-efficient LED lighting
  • Much of our furniture is upcycled, recycled or secondhand. DYK the long tables in the front are former bowling lanes handmade by our very own George? Or that our wooden phone booths were custom-made from recycled materials by ARCH Hawaii.

We also work with local organizations and partners for events focused on the SDGs. Most recently, we hosted the ABCs of the SDGs event to highlight local groups that are implementing the SDGs locally. Groups like Zero Waste Oahu, Surfrider Foundation, Aloha+ Challenge, Hawaii FoodBank, WorkNow, and many more were present to share their work, and how the community can get involved.

Finally, we are committed to helping companies doing well to do good, and helping those companies doing good, to do well. We see Impact Hub HNL as a unique space when we facilitate these connections with our members, partners, and the broader community.

sustainable development goals

Give Back to the Community During Volunteer Week

The second week in April is Volunteer Week. This is a national-level program led locally by member organization Kanu Hawaii.

Volunteer Week Hawaii 2019 aims to incorporate the UN SDGs, the framework for global sustainable development. These principles set forth by the United Nations are also the guiding foundation for Impact Hubs the world over, and we are so excited to be partnering with Kanu for one of 100+ statewide events.

On Friday, April 12, the Impact Hub team has partnered with Kanu Hawaiʻi, Blue Zones Project, Honolulu Civil Beat, and HPR Generation Listen to host a cleanup at Old Stadium Park, an historic community gathering space in Honolulu. This event is free to the public- if you’d like to join, please register your interest here. After the cleanup, join us at Pint & Jigger to mingle and enjoy special cocktails made for the occasion.

Volunteer Week events are diverse in time, location, and theme. Not sure what organization you’d like to support? You can see the full Oahu volunteer event calendar here to browse events during the week that include everything from beach cleanups across the island, charity walks, Biki-based Meals on Wheels, bike path cleanups, food drives, forest plantings, splashing around in lo’i, and/or helping the newest (and only) animal sanctuary on Oahu. Regardless of your location or conservation passion, there is an event for you!

The 2019 Volunteer Week is focused on organizations and actions that help encourage or city and state communities to move towards our sustainability goals, guided by the Aloha+ Challenge. Kanu Hawaii Executive Director, Keone Kealoha, explains on their website, “We hope to link each volunteer event throughout the Week to the appropriate UN SDGs and Aloha+ Challenge goals. Involvement in local volunteerism translates to positive impact, not only on your immediate community, but also our islandwide and global communities.”

If you are a local non-profit or community group, you can sign up to host an event here. If you’d like to volunteer your time (as an individual or a group), learn more here. Browse all the available events on your island (it’s a statewide event!) and recommend to friends on neighbor islands.

Meet our Host Team!

Impact Hub HNL has a group of dedicated hosts that work with us to greet new members and facilitate an awesome member experience. Learn more about our team here:

Lawrence Basha

Lawrence retired after a long Army career and is transitioning into something different as a second act. He is interested in organizational development, strategic planning, fitness & healthy living, and progressive politics in Hawaii.

 

Miguel Castrence

Miquel is a geospatial data scientist and managing partner at Resource Mapping Hawaii, a small, locally owned and operated company specializing in aerial imaging and geographic information solutions. He conducts research on wide range of conservation technologies for environmental monitoring over remote landscapes. His latest passion project integrates machine learning and citizen science for mapping marine debris throughout the main Hawaiian islands.

Holger Heine

Holger and his partner Suzanne started Topos Productions in 1996. We worked with clients specializing in corporate events and digital media. Today, Topos Media creates apps, websites and e-books and we help clients with marketing services.

 

Jenn Jiron

Jenn is a graphic designer, illustrator and founder of Waves in Color (a creative atelier). Waves in Color combines Jenn’s East meets West design background and focuses on conveying and creating a visual presence for a wide range of clients ranging from start-ups to established companies. The spectrum of the atelier is wide and includes: brand identity, print/product design, web design, digital projects, pattern creation, illustration and much more. Jenn’s passions include traveling, playing the guitar and helping out in the community.

Joe Heaukulani

Joe describes himself as a Random Citizen helping to transform Hawaii’s communities through enhanced engagement and enduring empowerment. My passions are Technology and Farming, and I am currently skill-building in Amazon Web Services, Machine Learning, Mobile Development, and a small dash of video production on the side.

Ruby Menon

“I have been a host and part of the Hub movement ever since we opened up our doors at the old ProtoHub location on Keawe St. In my day job, I am the Product Manager for a local tech startup, JamBios. In my company, BrainSmart HR, I work with social impact entrepreneurs to provide product design consulting using a behavioral science approach. I also teach Design Your Life by Creating New Habits classes at the Hub. A few years ago, I implemented an Inmate Art project called CARE that works with incarcerated women artists at WCCC. The CARE project promotes and sells their art and craft products so they can earn money for their transition back to the community. I am still involved in this social enterprise project and am always looking for opportunities to promote these talented women’s art work.

Danyale Thomas Ross

Danyale is Founder and Head Instigator in Charge and Mindset Practitioner at InstigateHer™. Her weekly podcast, InstigateHer™ features curated content of women thought leaders and self-help experts while delivering a message in just minutes. Danyale leads the Honolulu WomanSpeak circle, which can be best described as Toastmasters for conscious women a guided process that helps a woman discover her unique story and explores ways to be more fully expressed in the world for herself and her community. Through hosting various themed in person woman-centric events and spaces she encourages women to become a more sovereign version of themself.

Suzanne Savet

My background is in marketing, sales, meeting planning and special event management. My partner Holger and I started Topos Productions in 1996. Today, Topos Media creates apps, websites and e-books and we help clients with marketing services.

My interests include writing; travel; art; photography; film; music; food & wine; and sports, especially, golf, tennis and Formula One racing. As a pastime, I admit to spending too much time online watching hilarious animal (dog, cat) and healthy cooking videos.

Kat Uyemura

“I would be flattering myself if I called myself a Renaissance woman. But, I humbly wish to be an eternal student. I’ve always loved the study of the humanities, arts, literature and music. Anatomy and the fascinating human body has always interested me. I’m a yoga momma who loves travel, hiking, running and anything health related. I also have a great respect and curiosity for technological advances. However, though I believe that it’s integral to advance our society and world, I think what each person yearns for is the beauty of art and culture to transcend us to higher connections to each other, love and spirituality.” Kat says she can be found in any book store.

 

Member Spotlight: Jeffrey Eliasen

Today we’re sharing another member spotlight for one of our long-time members, Jeff Eliasen. You’ve probably seen his smiling face (and bare feet) around the space. Next time you see him be sure to say hello and ask him to chat about coding, technology, puzzles, and/or anything related to pirates.

Jeff is a software engineer, working remotely for companies on the mainland. He’s been ‘enamored’ with computers since he was a little kid, and learned to program before his tenth birthday. He’s passionate about algorithms and data structures, and loves solving data problems. His career choice was easy. He says, “It just seemed natural to spend every day solving problems for pay.” Hard to disagree with that!

I asked him a few questions about how someone new could get into coding. He says that if someone wanted to become a developer or get started with coding, it’s a good idea to start with a coding bootcamp (which didn’t exist when he was learning programming), and determine if you like the kinds of work necessary to complete the course. He also recommends seriously considering a degree in Computer Science or Mathematics if you want to do data work (analysis, machine learning, etc.), or maybe a degree in Design if you want to design and build websites or other digital applications.

Some of the largest changes in the coding world are the availability of powerful tools to people of all skill levels. He believes this democratizes data analysis, e-commerce, and communications (and many other areas). He says that in the next few years we’ll likely see a lot of ‘pulling back the curtains on monolithic business and government entities’ and probably upsetting the current power structure.

In addition to his own coding work, Jeff is a co-founder of the group PyHawaii, the local Python meetup (to be clear, it’s about website coding, not snakes). Python is one of the most-used coding languages in the world right now and is very easy to learn. The meetings typically involve a lesson at a beginner level, a lesson at an intermediate or advanced level, and solving a puzzle as a group to learn problem-solving skills. The group meets the first and third Wednesday of every month and he encourages new and experienced Python users to join!

Jeff loves working at Impact Hub HNL because it’s well-situated around restaurants, coffee shops, and a theater, because it’s near the mall but not so close that traffic is an issue, and (most importantly, we think) because it’s filled with people that make him excited to come to the “office” every day.

Thanks, Jeff, for your time and energy! We’re excited to see you at the office everyday, too!

Building Community, Making Impact: Volunteering with Ka Po‘e o Kaka‘ako

Alani Apio, a member of the local volunteer group Hui Aloha, and the Impact Hub team, have been actively building relationships with our Kaka’ako neighborhood over the last few months. Every Saturday at 10am, the group of volunteers gathers on the mauka-side (mountain side) of Kaka’ako Gateway Park to clean together and share a meal. The group includes anywhere from 10-30 volunteers each week. The volunteers are a diverse group, comprised of local business-owners, houseless residents, families, and community members.

In November 2018, Ka Po’e o Kaka’ako (The People of Kaka‘ako, KPOK), a group made up of members of the Kaka‘ako houseless community, began hosting regular cleanups of the Kakaako Gateway Park. In December, IHH members and staff were able to raise about $1300 to host a holiday BBQ for the volunteers and the local houseless community. At the event, over 50 guests shared a meal together. Following that event, weekly clean-ups and potlucks were organized to maintain the park, grow relationships, and serve together.

In January 2019, the KPOK group organized a major clean-up around the Children’s Discovery Center. The center was struggling to stay open because of the houseless community that surrounded it. The KPOK group worked with those living near the Center to voluntarily move locations– an unprecedented move that the Center leadership said they had been attempting for over a decade. The clean-up around the center was a tremendous success and truly inspiring.

If you’d like to volunteer for an upcoming clean-up and potluck, email Anne to learn more or come to the mauka-side of Kaka’ako Gateway Park at 10am on Saturdays, rain or shine. We provide gloves, trash bags, water, and aloha. If you can, please bring a dish to share following the clean-up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Announcing our 2019 Impact Partners

Impact Hub HNL is fortunate to partner with select local businesses to help make a bigger impact in our community.

Impact Hubs worldwide are united in the commitment to make social impact in the community, and locally we are grateful for the support of our 2019 Impact Partners.

These companies have demonstrated their support for the growing entrepreneurial and small business community in Honolulu. All Impact Partners are dedicated to bettering Hawaii through their thoughtful business actions.

Our Impact Partner Circle serves as a valuable advisory council that provides sponsorship of events and memberships, strategic insights, and thought leadership for the Impact Hub HNL community. We are proud to announce continued partnership with the following organizations: :

airbnb

Airbnb is a homeshare and experience app that helps create a world of global citizens. With 4,500,000 listings in over 65,000 cities in 191 countries, Airbnb offers the widest variety of unique spaces for rent, whether you want a room, a house, a boat, a tent, or a castle (along with offering other awesome experiences.)

airbnb’s work supports the following SDGs:

American Savings Bank

American Savings Bank is one of the primary financial institutions in the state of Hawaii, and have been serving Hawaii’s businesses and communities since 1925. ASB provides a full range of financial products and services, including business and consumer banking, home loans, insurance and investments.

We’ve partnered with ASB for many events at Impact Hub HNL that help grow financial literacy in the community, including the free public event entitled Building Community with Women Entrepreneurs that aims to build communication and connection between female entrepreneurs and freelancers in our community.

ASB’s work supports the following SDGs:

Elemental Excelerator

One of the leading cleantech incubators in the world, Elemental Excelerator is committed to deploying solutions that make direct impacts on our energy and water usage across the state and throughout the Asia-Pacific region. They work in partnership with the Emerson Collective’s Elemental platform, which is focused on balancing the needs of humanity and nature by supporting scalable, equitable, and innovative solutions.

Elemental Excelerator’s work supports the following SDGs:

Hawaii Investment Ready

Hawaii Investment Ready (HIR) is an accelerator program designed to help Hawaii businesses thrive. Their statewide peer-to-peer learning program has been created to support the sustainability of island social enterprises so that they can scale their businesses in Hawaii and beyond.

HIR’s work supports the following SDGs:

simplicityHR by Altres

ALTRES Staffing is Hawaii’s largest staffing and recruiting company, with seven offices across the state, and simplicityHR by ALTRES serves as the human resources “back office” for more than 2,200 local businesses. For nearly 50 years, they have been Hawaii’s #1 HR outsourcing company and is ranked as one of Hawaii’s Best Places to Work.

Altres’ work supports the following SDGs:

Ulupono

Ulupono Initiative is a local non-profit that invests in a more sustainable Hawaii. Founded by eBay founder Pierre Omidiyar. Ulupono seeks to invest in and help grow local organizations involved in clean/renewable energy, diversified agriculture, and waste-to-energy management – choosing to invest in projects that have high potential for creating large-scale social impact. They invest in companies focused on improving the local energy, food, water, and waste sectors.

Ulupono’s work supports the following SDGs: