Women's Fund of Hawai'i provides funding to organizations with programs that benefit women and girls specifically because in all of federal funding they receive less than 2% of the funding.
We are working toward a day when all women and girls in Hawai‘i are safe, financially secure, and empowered to participate fully in their communities.
While many women are doing well in Hawai‘i, far too many women and girls in our state are not. Inequity in Hawai'i is pervasive. Yes, programs to help exist, but many do not have sufficient funding. They, like the women and girls they serve, receive inequitable resources. This lack of funding is pervasive throughout the country as a whole. It has been documented that programs serving women and girls receive less than 2% of all charitable giving in the US despite the fact that they comprise 50% of the population.
Women's Fund of Hawai'i awards grants to organizations or programs that help the most vulnerable women and girls realize their potential; promote women’s financial security and girls’ strengths and leadership; address the factors that stand in the way of women’s success, including violence, adolescent pregnancy, low self-esteem, physical and mental health problems, substance abuse, prostitution, incarceration, immigrant status, homophobia, inadequate childcare, sports inequities, reproductive rights, poverty, disabilities and racism; build on the gifts, strengths and assets of women and girls; and promote their well-being.
When women thrive, families and communities prosper!
Grants Process
Women's Fund of Hawai‘i issues a Request for Proposal twice annually, in the Spring and Fall. Applications are thoroughly vetted by our Grants Committee. This Committee consists of women community members from a variety of backgrounds, which include not only WFH Board members, but also women who work or have worked with non-profits and/or grantmaking and writing in Hawai‘i, nationally, and internationally; women who hold advanced degrees in public health and social work and law, just to name a few.
Community Support
Thanks to our many wonderful donors Women's Fund of Hawai‘i was thrilled and honored to provide more than $260,000 last year in grant funding to all of our islands, including a special emergency grant session for immediate Maui Wildfire Relief.