The Hawai'i Alliance for Community-Based Economic Development (HACBED) was established in 1992 as a statewide nonprofit intermediary organization to “achieve economic, social, and environmental justice in Hawai`i through community-based economic development.” It supports the field of community-based economic development and asset building in Hawai`i by helping to strengthen the strategic readiness
and capacity of communities and community-based entities to expand economic choices, increase wealth, create hope, and promote self-empowerment and self-sufficiency for individuals, families, and communities across the islands. In its commitment to building and growing the CBED and asset building field and movement in Hawai`i, HACBED has strategically focused on: [1] Facilitation and network weaving; [2] Community and organizational capacity building; [3] Community based planning; and [4] Asset development and policy. A cornerstone of this strategic focus has been HACBED’s work to catalyze and support statewide networks and coalitions of organizations, agencies, and individuals to advance an asset policy agenda while organizing and working with families and communities to explore how best to structure asset building opportunities. To support this approach, HACBED convened a statewide gathering in 2004 – “Families Defining Economic Success: Redefining Wealth & Poverty In Hawai`i” – that has served as the impetus for HACBED’s asset building initiatives including the publication of an asset building framework and agenda for Hawai`i – Asset-Building Policy for Hawai`i; publication of a specific near term asset policy focus for the State – Asset Policy Roadmap: A Strategy For Advancing Financial Security & Opportunity In Hawai`i; and establishment of the Hawai`i Asset Policy Network (HAPN) that includes over 50 organizations and advocates to help build momentum behind the asset policy agenda.
