Who We Are

The Lift HI Story

Founder Jennifer Meehan moved to Hawai’i in mid-2017 after living for 20+ years in East and Southeast Asia. She has spent the last 25+ years of her career connecting poor and low income communities to economic opportunities that enable them to transform their own lives and those of their families – whether through access to microfinance to launch income-generating activities or linking migrant workers to jobs overseas.

THE CHALLENGE

When she arrived in Hawai’i, she was shocked to learn that 44% of Hawaiian households are below the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) threshold, or the average income required to afford the basic necessities for living. (Thanks to Aloha United Way and their partners who collect and share data on ALICE households. For more info, go to: https://www.auw.org/alice-initiative)

What does this mean in real life? Almost half of our community is barely getting by - regularly experiencing housing insecurity, food insecurity, health insecurity, child care insecurity and more.

These realities do not build the foundations for a fulfilling life or a flourishing community. And sadly, as a result, many people who are willing to work hard and want to stay in Hawai’i feel they have no choice but to remain stuck in survival mode or to leave our islands.

THE HOPE

Yet amidst these gloomy realizations, there was a bit of good news. It became clear that there are some “good” jobs – offering a living wages plus benefits and predictable hours, pathways to advancement, and a strong sense of community and team – that have unfilled vacancies on the island. Why are ALICE households not accessing these jobs?

Because it is hard for ALICE households to even learn about these opportunities in the first place. And once they do, even though they likely meet the minimum requirements of a high school degree, accessing the job will require training – which costs time and money and flexibility that they do not have.

THE LIFT

We try to address the mismatch between ALICE households and good jobs by:

Partnering with low income and affordable housing developers as well as community partners to reach out in person and build trust with their residents and clients;
Removing many hurdles that can prevent those living below the ALICE threshold from taking advantage of good jobs – offering the training in a compressed timeframe so people can transition to good jobs as soon as possible, providing the training for free, and offering income replacement so trainees can quit jobs and take participate.
Expanding training beyond technical skills to include goal development, professionalism, communication and collaboration “life” skills, financial planning and other critical factors that often determine if one is successful in a job, in life;
Serving as a sounding board and partner as graduates embark on their new paths.

We are fortunate to have found two visionary partners with whom we launched our work in February 2024: Ahe Group- an affordable housing developer who has also provided Lift HI our home – and Hawai’i Pacific Health – our first employer partner. Together, we graduated 100% of our first class of trainees in March 2024.

Board of Directors

Jennifer Meehan

Aimee Gloria

Scott Stiles

Carol Marx

Founder and President

Director

Advisor

Jennifer is the Founder & President of Lift HI Foundation. She has spent the last 25 years connecting low income communities to economic opportunities that enable transformation of their own lives and those of their families. She is a Founder and Board member of Fair Employment Training & Assessment Center (FTC) in Manila, the Philippines and also serves on the Board of Hong Kong-based Fair Employment Foundation. These organizations are focused on ending the forced labour of migrant workers in Asia. Prior to that, she worked in leadership positions within Grameen Foundation USA, part of the Grameen Family of Companies, who seek to empower women and families through microfinance to move themselves out of poverty. She was based in Asia for 23 years prior to moving to Hawai’i in 2017. She serves as Chair of the Board for Kailua-based Le Jardin Academy and lives in Waimānalo.

Aimee is the Executive Director of Fair Employment Training & Assessment Center (FTC) in Manila, the Philippines. Under her leadership, FTC has been recognized for its “gold standard” training that prepares migrant domestic workers not just for work, but for life overseas. Prior to that, Aimee spent a decade scaling non-profit livelihood and child nutrition programs nationwide across the Philippines. Before she entered the NGO world, Aimee’s determination to break boundaries began when she became the Philippines’ first female commercial airline pilot, a career which she pursued for 10 years. She lives in Monila.

Scott is the Chief Customer Experience Officer at Brigham Young University - Hawaii. He started his career as a social entrepreneur, co-founding a group of companies including Hong Kong-based Fair Employment Agency focused on ending forced labour, straight out of college. Over 8 years, he received various award including being named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list in Asia. In 2022, Scott joined SEEK, Australia’s number one job marketplace, as Special Advisor of Fair Hiring in Asia. There he ensured the safety of individuals using SEEK’s employment platforms in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. He is lives in Hau’ula.

Carol serves as an Advisor to Lift HI Foundation, supporting our community outreach and engagement, partner collaboration and data management as well as building community with our trainees. Carol was previously President/CEO for the Hawai’i Credit Union League after spending 30 years in mortgage and retail banking in Hawai’i, including both Bank of Hawai’i and First Hawaiian Bank. She is deeply committed to our local community, serving on the Boards of American Cancer Society Hawaii/Guam and Hawai’i HomeOwnership Center and as a member of Soroptimists International of Waikiki. She is currently completing a Masters Degree in Public Health with Boston University. She lives in Kailua.