Advocacy Resources:
Civic Engagement

The Hawaiʻi State Capitol website is a powerful tool for participating directly in the legislative process. Through the site, you can track bills, read legislation, submit written testimony, sign up to testify at hearings, and follow committee schedules and votes. You can also find contact information for your legislators to share your views and stay informed about what’s moving during the legislative session. Using these tools allows everyday people to have a voice and hold lawmakers accountable.

Create your own account needed to submit testimony & get the most out of the site 

Legislator Locator

The Public Access Room (PAR) provides the public with resources for participation in the State legislative process. This includes knowledge of how things work at the Capitol, a physical location for use by members of the public, and workshops presented throughout the islands. PAR is a non-partisan office, and there is never a fee for services. Please call, email, or come on by – they'd like to help you to be an effective participant at the Legislature. 

Located: State Capitol in Room 401
Phone: (808) 587-0478. Email: par@capitol.hawaii.gov

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IMPORTANT TRAININGS:

Using the Legislature's Website (See above)

Engagement 101

The Hawaiʻi State LGBTQ+ Commission is dedicated to advancing equity, inclusion, and opportunity for the Māhū, LGBTQIA+/MVPFAFF+ community, connecting their voices and the Hawaiʻi State government. We serve as a vehicle for collaboration, advocacy, and education, promoting public awareness and policy change to ensure equal rights. Through civic engagement and partnerships at all levels, we strive to create a more just and inclusive Hawaiʻi for all.

Commission Resources:

• 2026 Legislative Tracker

• Inclusive LGBTQIA+ Glossary

• Sign-up for Commission meeting notices

• Community Resource Guide

The Hawai'i Health and Harm Reduction Center serves Hawai’i communities by reducing the harm and fighting the stigma of HIV, hepatitis, homelessness, substance use, mental illness, and poverty in our community. We focus our efforts on those disproportionately affected by social determinants of health, including but not limited to: people living with and/or affected by HIV, hepatitis, substance use, and the transgender, LGBQ and the Native Hawaiian communities. We foster health, wellness, and systemic change in Hawai’i and the Pacific through care services, advocacy, training, prevention, education, and capacity building.

Volunteer

Lambda Law Hawai'i (Lambda) is a collective of LGBTQ+ individuals and allies at the William S. Richardson School of Law (WSRSL).  They are dedicated to providing resources and events that serve our community and educate the legal community on LGBTQ+ issues.
Lambda champions activism in the LGBTQ+ community.  Their organization coordinates and hosts panels, facilitates networking with local and national LGBTQ+ rights leaders, and seeks to connect students with research and academic opportunities, and activism related to gender and sexuality.
Students of all genders and sexualities (allies included) are encouraged to join the WSRSL Lambda community.  Follow them on Instagram and join their email list to get information about our current activities. Contact us with questions or feedback at lambda@hawaii.edu.

An injury to one is an injury to all!

Pride at Work - Hawaiʻi is an official chapter of Pride At Work which is a national nonprofit organization that represents LGBTQIA+ union members and their allies. We are an officially recognized constituency group of the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations) that organizes mutual support between the organized Labor Movement and the LGBTQIA+ Community to further social and economic justice.

Sign up their e-list

The Stonewall Caucus (Hawai‘i’s oldest and largest advocacy organization) is dedicated to representing Hawai‘i’s LGBTQIA+ community by supporting and promoting the values and positions of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i in promoting justice and equality regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression for such issues and concerns as: Government Operations, Government Rule-Making and Practices, Government Funding and Appropriations, and Welfare and Social Service Benefits; Hate Crimes; Relationship Rights and Responsibilities; Parenting, Adoption and Definitions of Family; Employment; Housing; Public Accommodations; Health; Education; Environment; Sustainable Development; Food Insecurity; Tourism; Economic Development; Economic Inequality; Ending Racism within the LGBTQIA+ Community; and Serving our Country in Military Service. The Caucus will also protect the advancements that we all have made as a community for our community.

Join the Stonewall Caucus

Links to current Stonewall Caucus actions

Protecting Rights Since 1965
The ACLU of Hawai‘i is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization that has been protecting the civil rights and civil liberties of the Hawaiian islands since its inception in 1965.

With community partners and volunteers, they ensure that government does not violate fundamental rights — regardless of race, socioeconomic status, gender expression, sexual orientation, or anything else.

Their work spans the courts, legislatures, and local communities — defending freedoms and advancing justice every day.

• LGBTQ+ Rights Section

• Legislative Priorities

Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action (HAPA) is dedicated to fighting for social, economic, and environmental justice in Hawaiʻi. Whether protecting communities from toxic pesticide drift or advocating for a living wage, we strive to improve the unfair conditions forced upon locals and the ‘āina through community organizing, advocacy, and education.

Their mission is critical to preserving Hawaiʻiʻs environment, ecology, and food production. Given the intersectional nature of food systems, we emphasize that food system problems are not independent of other social, economic, and environmental issues. 

• Subscribe to their email list

• HAPA's Reclaiming Democracy Project

Hawaiʻi Appleseed is committed to a more socially and economically just Hawaiʻi, where everyone has genuine opportunities to achieve economic security and fulfill their potential. We change systems to address inequity and foster greater opportunity by:

• Engaging with the communities around us to better understand the barriers they face and the solutions they hope to see;

• Conducting data analysis and research to address these barriers with data-driven solutions that align with community needs;

• Educating policymakers and the public;

• Facilitating collaborative problem solving and coalition building; and

• Advocating for policy and systems change at the state, local and federal level.

The work of Hawaiʻi Appleseed is about people. The issues we work on—housing, food, wages, transportation, the state budget and taxation, each analyzed through a lens that centers racial, indigenous, gender and other forms of equity—are important because they ensure people have access to the means to survive and thrive, both individually and collectively.

Addressing these issues requires the knowledge and expertise of the people that have first-hand experience and live with the adverse consequences of our flawed systems. Hawaiʻi Appleseed is focused on doing more to integrate into our organization and our work the people affected by the issues we work on.

Volunteer

Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network (HCAN) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the only one in the state of Hawaiʻi solely committed to advocating for children. They address the root causes of poverty and inequity and develop public policies that help children and their families.  

Our Mission: Build a unified voice educating and advocating for Hawaiʻi's children.

Our Vision: All of Hawaiʻi's children are healthy, safe and ready to learn.

• HCAN Speaks

• HCAN Legislative Resources

• HCAN Advocacy Toolkit​

The Hawaiʻi State AFL-CIO is the largest union federation in the State of Hawaiʻi, representing working people across the islands. AFL-CIO stands for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, a national federation of labor unions committed to advancing fair wages, safe workplaces, and strong labor protections. Through their website, you can find legislative priorities, policy updates, calls to action, and resources to help workers and allies engage in advocacy and build collective power through solidarity.

Legislative Bill Tracker

Indivisible Hawaiʻi Statewide Network is a part of Indivisible, a national grassroots movement formed in December 2016 to defeat the Trump agenda of racism, misogyny, and authoritarianism. Indivisible boasts a nationwide network of thousands of local groups across the US, representing over a million people.

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The Indivisible Hawai‘i Statewide Network has fourteen chapters spanning four islands, mobilizing thousands of residents and over a thousand active leaders.

Signup: Indivisible Hawaiʻi's Public Policy Team

Watch their Training video

Fight for reproductive freedom in Hawaiʻi

Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates (PPAA) protects and promotes reproductive health, rights and justice. They do this by advocating for public policies that guarantee the right to choice and full and nondiscriminatory access to reproductive health care, and fostering and preserving a social and political climate favorable to the exercise of reproductive choice through voter education, candidate endorsement and other means.

PPAA is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization educating residents and policy-makers about reproductive health issues

Sign up for updates