Enabling Environmental Stewardship in Hawaiʻi: An Exploratory Review of Nonprofit Roles in Institutional Coordination and Impact Investing, 2024–2026
Using an exploratory qualitative scan, this study reviews nonprofit organizations that carry out or directly support environmental stewardship in Hawaii to understand the ecosystem's basic composition and recent changes from 2024 to 2026. The scan identified two recurring functions across environmental issue areas: institutional coordination and field infrastructure, and impact investing and environmental innovation infrastructure. Representative cases, including an issue-specific professional network, a statewide coordinating network, a philanthropic intermediary, a local project-readiness organization, and a climate-technology investment platform, are used to examine the roles these organizations play within the ecosystem. Coordinating organizations help sustain shared goals, cross-organizational collaboration, and the flow of philanthropic resources. Impact-investing intermediaries help environmental projects with revenue or repayment mechanisms become investment-ready and reach early deployment.