Kamehameha Schools pledged its participation in a cross-sector collaboration seeking a clean, renewable energy future for Hawaiʻi and the economic vibrancy that will accompany the state’s clean energy transformation.
The “Pledge for Collective Impact,” was signed with Elemental Excelerator (EEx) at the recent Earth Day Energy Summit. The pledge expands an EEx hui of global leaders, committed to investing talent and resources in innovation solutions that advance Hawaiʻi. KS will advise on EEx’s Community Cohort, a pilot program that provides capacity building and funding for community innovators from across industries, including government, education and business.
“More than the right time for the utility or people in the energy industry to start talking about a pathway forward, it is the right time for the entire community,” said Jack Wong, chief executive officer of Kamehameha Schools. “The state and utilities cannot bear the burden alone. They need partners like us – from education, ʻāina and business.”
EEx created the hui out of a recognition that local business leaders and investors interested in renewable energy could increase the appetite for innovation in Hawai‘i through peer-to-peer learning and behind-the-scenes engagement with EEx portfolio and pipeline programs that create technology solutions for systems-improvement in energy, transportation, water and agriculture.
From this partnership, KS hopes to extend its community engagement and educational efforts with technology innovations and startup efforts in local and global industries, becoming part of the high-value economic solutions that affect our islands.
“As an educator,” continued Wong, “it is Kamehameha’s responsibility to create pathways for the innovators and entrepreneurs of the future who will invent solutions and technologies we can’t begin to imagine from where we stand today; and as stewards of our precious ʻāina, it is our responsibility to care for each and every natural resource, so it will in turn care for us.”
Select members of the EEx hui will join a Global Advisory Board with some of the biggest technology brands in the world to drive industry-startup collaboration. In addition to Kamehameha Schools, Global Advisory Board members include Hawaiian Electric Industries, Emerson Collective, First Philippine Holdings, Vector (New Zealand), Tokyo Electric Power Company, SK Gas (South Korea), National Grid & PTT (Thailand). Other local hui members include Hawaiʻi Energy, American Savings Bank, Ulupono Initiative and Hawaiʻi Community Foundation.
“The Hawaiian perspective grounds us in our values as we seek innovation that helps us steward our place,” said Dawn Lippert, chief executive officer of Elemental Excelerator. “We are deeply appreciative of Kamehameha Schools’ leadership as an anchor member of this hui, and we are confident that their pledge for collective impact will catalyze participation from businesses and organizations across the state. We know that it will take all of us to realize a clean energy future in Hawaiʻi.”
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