2023 Impact Report
By: ThriveHI
Aloha all,
A year ago, ThriveHI was a group of four volunteers, loosely tied together by the shared vision to grow Hawaii’s tech, startup, and remote work economy so local people can find good-paying jobs. Since then, a few things have happened:
We’ve confirmed that the desire to diversify Hawaii’s economy into tech is strong. There is a large community of individuals and organizations willing to support this cause.
We’ve grown to a passionate group of eight volunteers who have worked together to gather 1000+ techies, connect hundreds of students to professionals in tech, and disperse thousands of dollars in funding to entrepreneurs.
We’ve gained clarity in our mission, vision, and value-add to the ecosystem; ThriveHI needs to serve as a coordinating entity to ensure that the awesome organizations and individuals working towards this cause are working together as efficiently as possible.
This past November, we were awarded our first $300,000 federal grant from the EDA to execute this renewed understanding of our mission. With this funding, we will: 1) build the network of organizations working to diversify Hawaii’s economy, 2) align the network behind a cohesive strategy, and 3) mobilize the network to action on this strategy and achieve breakthrough impact.
This milestone is not just a victory for ThriveHI; it's a collective win for every one of you who has contributed to the growth of Hawaii’s startup and tech ecosystem. We want to give a special shout-out to our partners who continue to do amazing work. This community’s dedication, passion, and commitment to this shared mission will play a pivotal role in guiding Hawaii’s economic future.
This funding will also enable us to take our first major step as an organization by hiring our inaugural full-time employee! I will assume the role of Executive Director, while Trung, Johnny, and Rich will continue to gift their knowledge to ThriveHI as they do so well.
Thank you for choosing to champion this work. Your support of ThriveHI is an investment in true, systemic, long-term change for Hawai‘i.
Mahalo,
Sonia
