WAVE

What does WAVE stand for?

We Are Voices of Excellence—and I hope you’ll add your voice to our call for change through community-based advocacy. If you are interested please apply as soon as possible and we will contact you!

By empowering advocates through the 50CAN advocacy framework, our WAVE grassroots engagement work will move Hawaii closer to our vision for the future of education—and create a more responsive and equitable education system.

Here’s what Erin, a recent high school graduate and WAVE Youth member has to say about the program!

What you’ll learn

What will you learn through WAVE? Here are some of the lessons we teach—the tools you’ll need to run campaigns that result in real and lasting change:

- The fundamentals of advocacy and policy
- Leadership and public speaking skills
- How to run a social justice campaign
- How to build authentic relationships with peers
- The ins-and-outs of civic participation

Past Engagements

Past engagements for WAVE students have included:

- Participating in the Hawaii Children and Youth Summit
- Presenting at the Schools of the Future Conference
- Facilitating Sessions at the Student Energy Summit
- Hosting Legislative Walk-Arounds at the Hawaii State Capitol

Program components

WAVE is a program that equips community members (adults and youth) across the islands with the skills to lead impactful and localized advocacy campaigns. We will work through a core series of trainings to teach you the skills of advocacy and community organizing and we will also hold community-based events to put those skills into action! The key part of this program is YOU, making waves!

Learning experiences and events

During the course of the program, we will sponsor events where you can participate in advocacy actions. Meet other passionate youth and community members who are making waves. We will partner youth with mentors who can provide support for developing their advocacy skills and their own campaigns.

Activities include:

Meet with policy makers
Testify at hearings
Campaign for a candidate or an issue
Post on social media in support of a campaign
Host or attend a community-based discussion
Write letters to editor, blogs and op-ed pieces
Attend neighborhood board meetings
Attend Board of Education meetings

How you can make a difference

We can’t run WAVE without mentors, community partners, and referrals to youth programs. If you are interested in participating in trainings, events, providing mentorship, and / or becoming a point-of-contact for your school or community-based organization, please contact David Sun-Miyashiro, david.miyashiro@hawaiikidscan.org