Donna Soriano is a STEM Lab Teacher at Wai’anae Elementary School and a participant of INPEACE Ka Lama Education Academy. INPEACE has supported her in elevating herself in the teaching profession and is currently helping her to pursue National Board Teaching Certification.

The journey of higher education has its share of challenges. One of the biggest challenges for many families is the financial burden that comes along with going to college. For David and Ruth Gabaylo that financial burden is tripled as Ruth, a mother of three, is pursuing her own college degree simultaneously with their two daughters, Cinnamon and Cayenne. As a mother on a journey to higher education, Ruth has been able to continue to study alongside her children and has even had fun carpooling to college classes with her daughter.

To aid in the delivery of Hawaiian culture-based learning, the Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture (INPEACE) was recently awarded a $134,309 grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to support its Kupu Ola program offered to students at Waiʻanae Intermediate School (WIS).

INPEACE Hi‘ilei has earned a prestigious endorsement from Parents as Teachers National Center, Inc., (PATNC) as a Blue Ribbon Affiliate, making it one of the top-performing home visiting affiliates within Parents as Teachers’ international network. The official designation was made in October 2022. 

Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF) has been a long-standing partner and funder for INPEACE programs. Since 2014, INPEACE has received multiple grants to support both programmatic and organization wide initiatives

INPEACE’s Ho‘oulu Waiwai (“to build wealth”) program has been running for eight years now and has provided financial workshops and counseling for over 1,600 people, most of them Native Hawaiian. The program uses mo‘olelo (Hawaiian stories) and ‘ōlelo no‘eau (Hawaiian proverbs) to help participants better understand financial concepts.