The Island Insurance Foundation recently donated $250,000 to the University of Hawaii Foundation for UH Manoa’s Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs, or RISE, project, UH officials announced Monday.
The new funds — in addition to donations this year from Rich and Eileen Wacker, Hawaiian Electric and American Savings Bank — raises the total of private donations for the project to $1 million. RISE, which is to be operated by the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship, or PACE, at UH Manoa’s Shidler College of Business, will be an entrepreneurship center where students can live, learn and work.
When completed in 2023, RISE will have 7,263 square feet of multi-purpose co-working, meeting, lab and classroom space, as well as 374 dormitory beds for undergraduate and graduate students, according to UH officials.
“Our donation to the University of Hawaii’s RISE program is an investment in Hawaii’s future,” said Dana Tokioka, president of Island Insurance Foundation, in a statement. “We see it as a progressive project that will help to positively impact Hawaii’s economy through support of the student-innovators who will be our leaders moving forward.”
The donation from Island Insurance will go toward UH Foundation’s goal of raising $3 million to fund the RISE center’s furnishings, fixtures and equipment along with operational programs and student scholarships over the first 10 years.
“The rapid changing of the 21st Century workplace is forcing students to be innovative and entrepreneurial,” said Susan Yamada, vice chair of the PACE board of directors in a statement. “PACE builds these skills through programs focused on problem solving, interdisciplinary teamwork and hands-on experience. We greatly appreciate Island Insurance’s long-standing support and generous gift as we expand to serve more students and our community.”
Shidler College Dean Vance Roley added in a statement, “This substantial gift from Island Insurance Foundation brings our total private donations raised to date to approximately $1 million. It is encouraging to see the private sector come together in support of this groundbreaking project which allows the university to make a lasting impact for current and future students and entrepreneurs.”
