Planting Seeds of Opportunity: Why RiseHI’s ʻOihana Career Explorations Matters

Hawai‘i’s youth are growing up in a time where making ends meet feels harder than ever. Today, about 41% of households fall below the “ALICE” threshold (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), meaning nearly half of local families are struggling just to cover essentials. For many keiki, seeing parents and neighbors live paycheck to paycheck shapes the belief that financial struggle is simply part of life and that big dreams are out of reach.

When it comes to planning for the future, too many students are left guessing. Career fairs and field trips, when schools can even afford to organize them, tend to be brief, limited, and unable to capture the full range of modern professions. The challenge is even greater for rural or under-resourced schools, where opportunities to connect with relatable role models or culturally grounded career paths are scarce. Like a pebble dropped into a pond, the consequences ripple outward: deepening educational gaps, limiting upward mobility, leaving local talent disconnected from local opportunities.

That’s the crisis RiseHI’s ʻOihana Career Explorations is stepping into.

A Personal Why

The heart of ʻOihana is personal for founder Gabe Amey. Born and raised on Oʻahu, Gabe left home to attend college on the mainland and eventually play professional football. That journey opened his eyes to something powerful:

“Learning that I was just as capable as peers outside Hawaiʻi, and that I could take initiative to create opportunities for myself, was eye-opening.”

But he also recognized a problem: most young people in Hawaiʻi don’t get those same opportunities to see beyond their immediate circles.

“If we zoom out 10, 20, 30 years from now, if a lot of our kids [grow] up in Hawaiʻi, but then move to the mainland because they can’t survive, then what does Hawaiʻi look like?” Gabe asked.

His answer? Create something that sparks optimism early.

“There needs to be something that can be [introduced to] our keiki early on to start creating optimism, creating hope and opportunities in Hawaiʻi, that you are capable of doing amazing things.”

A New Kind of Career Exploration

ʻOihana flips the traditional career fair model on its head. Instead of quick handouts or surface-level presentations, students get to “shadow” local professionals through immersive video courses.

“Why don’t we take a camera crew and a team and follow [someone] for the day so that we can shoot and document exactly what a day in the life looks like, but also interview [that person], ask them the poignant questions that a student would want to know about that job… and put this all together to create a course.”

We are using technology and creative media to minimize the time a professional needs to give up out of their day to teach our keiki about their specific profession.

This approach makes it possible for every student, no matter where in the state, to see what a career in health care, construction, fashion design, or anything they can imagine, actually looks like.

From Three Courses to Many More

ʻOihana began with the launch of three courses for the 2024-2025 school year: Pharmacy Technician, General Contractor, and Graphic Designer. Since then, the program has doubled its impact, now offering six completed courses with the addition of Entrepreneur, Commercial Driver, and Hospital Aide.

This growth has been fueled by the support of generous community partners. Hawai‘i Leadership Forum contributed $55,000 to fund six previously completed ʻOihana courses, while Leeward Community College invested $28,500 to support the creation of three more. Building on that foundation, RiseHI recently secured additional funding to expand even further:

• $47,500 from the Healthcare Association of Hawai‘i to develop five healthcare-related courses

• $19,000 from Hawai‘i Dental Service to create two dentistry-focused courses

• $19,000 from AES Hawai‘i to produce two energy-focused courses

Together, these partnerships are making it possible to grow ʻOihana into a true statewide library of opportunity.

Building Credibility, One School at a Time

When Gabe first started RiseHI, people struggled to picture what he was describing. They nodded in wary confusion, unable to imagine the big picture. But, once Gabe showed the proof of concept, schools began to take notice.

“That proof of concept step [was] hugely important. Once they see the video or the workbook, then it’s kind of like, ‘oh, now I understand what this is.’”

Kapaʻa Middle School became the first DOE school to adopt the curriculum. Others quickly followed, each one adding another layer of trust and momentum. Seven schools have already committed to using our ʻOihana platform after just our first year of launch, with more on the way.

As Gabe put it: “It goes back to credibility.”

Don’t Just Take Our Word for It

RiseHI’s ʻOihana Career Explorations isn’t just a homegrown idea, it’s being studied as a model for change. Hawai‘i Leadership Forum, one of our supporters, recently featured ʻOihana in a Seeding Impact Case Study, documenting how this program is reshaping the way students across the islands connect to future opportunities.

This isn’t just recognition; it’s influence. The case study will be shared with future cohorts of Omidyar Fellows, Hawaiʻi’s network of community leaders, as a way to spark ideas and strategies for creating impact. In other words, ʻOihana is being looked to as an example of how bold, community-driven initiatives can take root and grow.

For us, that outside perspective matters. It shows schools, funders, and partners that this work isn’t just our passion, it’s a validated approach to tackling some of Hawai‘i’s most pressing challenges in education, workforce development, and migration.

You can read the full case study here.

Join the Movement

The vision is bold: a library of 80 courses spanning Hawaiʻi DOE’s 13 career pathways, available to as many schools in the state as possible, by 2027. But Gabe knows it’s going to take partnership.

“We’re looking at foundations that can donate to help cover these costs, but also talking to industry leaders and businesses…and really expanding the outreach that way, to get this public/private partnership going so we can inspire and educate the next generation.”

If you are interested in supporting, click here. There are a variety of courses you could sponsor at a cost of $9,500 each. Here are some examples:

The possibilities are endless. Just as schools, foundations, and community partners are rallying behind this vision, you can be part of ensuring every student in Hawai‘i has access to these opportunities. Together, we can spark optimism, grow pathways, and keep our keiki rooted in the place they call home.