Chapter Leadership of the Year: Hawai’i Chapter
AAJA-Hawai’i meets quarterly at a local restaurant to offer journalists a chance to network and help in various ways. Funds raised at these events have provided prize money to the top three winners of the Hawaii high school journalist of the year contest. The money has also gone to grants for deserving journalists who want to attend the national AAJA convention. To show pride in our chapter, we recently created our first AAJA Hawaii t-shirts with a "shaka" replacing the dot over the j. "Imua" in Hawaiian means to move forward; that is our slogan as we look to bigger and better things in our chapter's future.
ABOUT THE RECIPIENT: One of the smaller AAJA chapters, the Hawaii Chapter has demonstrated remarkable resilience and dedication in the face of numerous challenges over the past year. At the beginning of the year, the chapter faced a leadership crisis and was on the brink of being put on pause due to an understaffed board. However, members of the Hawaii chapter rose to the occasion, stepping into leadership positions and addressing the many challenges that faced their membership and community-at-large.
In August 2023, AAJA Hawaii collaborated with ’Ahahui Haku Mo’olelo (Hawaiian Journalist Association) and AAJA National to develop and share guidance on covering the devastating Lāhainā wildfire. Additionally, AAJA Hawaii held an off-the-record Zoom conversation in partnership with AAJA National for Hawai’i journalists to discuss the grief, stress, and other emotions they experienced while covering or processing the Maui wildfires.
Membership in the chapter has grown steadily, as it welcomed both young journalists and retired members who can provide mentorship. The Hawaii Chapter has demonstrated tremendous capacity despite its size, which is a true testament to its leadership and dedication to AAJA’s mission.