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Join Your Community for an Evening! | | |
RSVP now for an evening of celebration, connection, and inspiration!
We'll be sharing highlights from the year, hearing from a few of our 2025 awardees, and enjoying great food and wine together. Everyone is welcome—you don't need to be a member to attend!
We're also supporting Maʻi Movement again by collecting period products for women and girls in need. Please bring unopened packages of individually wrapped tampons, pads, or panty liners.
This is going to be a fun and inspiring evening that you won't want to miss!
Awardee Speakers
Rachel Fukumoto: Agriculture Leadership
Ninamarie Bell: Local Musician and Entrepreneuer
Maevin Malasig: Scholarship Awardee
Tammy Dao & Natalie Choi: Girls Talk Back participants
Parking and Accessibility note: Entrance to the Chinatown Gateway Plaza Parking lot is on Bethel (left side, across from former Walmart parking). Parking is below the DAC space and there is an elevator in the building that comes straight up to DAC's front doors on the 2nd floor from the parking lot. Monday - Friday Evening Rates for the Chinatown Gateway Plaza are $0.65 per half hour. More parking options will be sent in an email a few days before the event.
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Last Chance: Women's Circle
Values-Based Spending
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Women's Circles are a gathering of women for women, a supportive space where women can connect, share, and empower each other.
In just four days, we're gathering again. 🌺 Women's Circle is a space built by women, for women — to connect, reflect, and lift each other up. This Tuesday we continue our Money Matters series with a conversation about values-based spending. What do you truly value — and does your wallet agree? Come ready to reflect and share.
No right answers, just good company. And if you have specific financial questions, AAUW's free Smart Start Webinars are a wonderful place to start. We hope to see you there! 💛
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Girls Talk Back:
Application Deadline Extended to May 15th!
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Do you know a high school girl who has something to say, or who wants to make a difference in her community? Girls Talk Back might be exactly what she's been looking for.
Girls Talk Back is a FREE four-week summer leadership program designed for high school girls. The program gives young women the space and support to dive headfirst into a social or community issue that matters to them.
Guided by an incredible group of teachers and mentors — and inspired by guest speakers from right here in our community — last year's speakers included Representative Perruso, Representative Grandinetti, Officer Jasmine Marzo-Lum of HPD, and journalist Ashley Mizuo — exactly the kind of exposure to real community leaders that is both rare and invaluable.
And the results speak for themselves. Last year's action plans included period equity in schools, culturally relevant Hawaiian studies curricula, youth-led college readiness resources, and community literacy initiatives, among many others. These are real issues, driven by real young women who care deeply about their community. The program culminates in a community forum where the girls present their ideas and plans — a powerful moment that puts their voices front and center.
Girls walk away with new friends, meaningful community connections, the confidence to speak up and own a room, and the skills to take a project from idea all the way to the stage — and that's just a few of the takeaways.
This program is completely free — lunch included daily!
If you know a high school girl who has something to say or wants to see change in her community, please encourage her to apply.
| | Volunteer Appreciation Month...Continued | | |
April was Volunteer Appreciation Month, and we had such a wonderful time celebrating the heart behind AAUW Honolulu — our volunteers! 🌺
Throughout April, we spotlighted four incredible women who give their time, talent, and energy to this community. We shared two in our last newsletter, and we are so excited to introduce you to two more below. Each one brings something truly unique to the table, and we are endlessly grateful for all that they do. From our dedicated board to every member who shows up and pitches in — AAUW Honolulu simply would not be what it is without you. 💙🌺
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Nicole Fesharaki is the kind of volunteer who shows up and dives in! 💙
Nicole Fesharaki began volunteering with AAUW Honolulu in 2024 and has already made a meaningful mark, serving on both the Career Development Grant and Scholarship Grant committees and recently joining the board as Career Development Grant Chair.
What keeps her coming back? Purpose. Nicole brings a rich background as a former nonprofit management consultant, and she loves putting that experience to work for women navigating their own education and career journeys. Her most memorable moment? The awardee brunch — where she admits she is "a puddle of tears" hearing the grantees' inspiring stories.
Looking ahead, Nicole hopes to see AAUW reach new and diverse audiences and find creative ways to bring past grantees back as mentors. A Kailua resident and proud stay-at-home mom, she would choose coffee with Michelle Obama — for the authenticity and the laughs — and Track Olympian Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, whose mental strength and world-record-breaking performances she finds absolutely amazing. 🌺
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Today we celebrate a true cornerstone of AAUW Honolulu — Jean!💙
Jean has been a member of AAUW Honolulu since 2015, joining after retirement and diving in headfirst. She began with the Scholarship Committee, later became its Chair, and served six years on the Board. Today she continues as an active member of the Scholarship, Career & Leadership, and State Public Policy committees — a true pillar of this organization.
What drives her? A deep belief in the mission. Jean is passionate about gender equity and has been a meaningful force in expanding AAUW Honolulu's scholarship focus to include non-traditional students. She is also thrilled to see younger women stepping into leadership and loves the addition of Women's Circle. Looking ahead, she'd love to see more locally tailored salary negotiation workshops that reflect Hawaii's unique workplace realities.
When she's not immersed in legislative sessions or scholarship season, you'll find Jean climbing the hills of Aiea Heights daily with neighbors and dogs, laughing with her Golden Girls group, or embarking on a month-long road trip with her husband.
Her dream coffee date? Eleanor Roosevelt — a fearless leader for women and human rights who met Americans from every walk of life. A perfect match. 🌺
| | AAUW Honolulu Member Corner | | |
AAUW Honolulu is looking to welcome four new board members and re-elect two returning board members!
Only AAUW Honolulu members can vote. To become a member, start at the button below and create an account. You can then join AAUW (National), AAUW Hawaiʻi, and AAUW Honolulu.
If you have not received your ballot, please email me at program-manager@aauwhonolulu.org.
| | Every Day is AANHPI Heritage Month in Hawaiʻi | | |
For much of the continental U.S., May is a time to pause and recognize Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. And that recognition matters. But here in Hawaiʻi, we don't need a designated month to be reminded of who we are.
We live it every day.
In Hawaiʻi, AANHPI people are not a minority — we are the fabric of daily life. Our cultures are not something we set aside for a month of celebration. They show up in the food we eat, the languages we speak, the values we carry, and the way we show up for one another.
More than a racial category, what we share here is something deeper — a sense of place, of belonging, of kuleana. Our communities are beautifully distinct. Native Hawaiian, Filipino, Japanese, Micronesian, Samoan, Chinese, Korean — each with their own history, language, and identity. And yet here we are, woven together into something that is uniquely and wonderfully Hawaiʻi.
So yes, let's honor AANHPI Heritage Month. But more than that, let's honor each other — every single day.
| | AAUW Honolulu was founded in 1905 as the College Club. Created to promote “the higher ideals of education among women” it became an official branch of the American Association of University Women in 1922. | | | | |
