Hawaiian Volcano Education and Resilience Institute
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
The Hawaiian Volcano Education and Resilience Institute works with the Island of Hawaii community including keiki (youth) and kupuna (seniors), visitors, and other engaged stakeholders to improve disaster preparedness, response and recovery through volcano education, monitoring, resilience network building, and youth development.
- Income
- $117,244
- Spending
- $321,347
- Spent on programs
- 90%
- Reserves
- 1.1 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 47%
- Employees
- 3
- Volunteers
- 18
- Highest pay
- $73,225, co-executive director
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Weak: 45 out of 100. Higher than 12% of charities in its peer group (education, under $250k).
Reserves
10 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 1.1 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 1% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 174% of income.
Income trend
0 of 15Income fell 70% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1590% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 92 out of 100. Higher than 90% of charities in its peer group (education, under $250k).
Independent board
18 of 253 of 3 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $95,982 spent. HVERI's Volcano Education program creates and shares educational content both on social media and at in-person outreach events, to boost preparedness against natural hazards in our island's communities. Kilauea produced 36 eruptive episodes during 2025, marked by lava fountains up to 1500 feet or 450 meters in height. While technically all part of a single eruption marked by pauses, each 2025 episode created challenges akin to individual eruptions. Lava flows were entirely contained within the summit caldera, but lava fountains produced high levels of volcanic gas, tephra, fine ash, and glassy Pele's hair which were carried into nearby communities and infrastructure by prevailing winds. The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory documented 10 events during 2025 with impacts to island communities, highlighted by "fist-sized clasts" of tephra falling on Highway 11 during episode 35 in October. Public concern grew as airborne hazards became more impactful and widespread throughout the year, underscoring the need for consistent communication and education about those threats. HVERI's online content is produced and shared in 3 formats based on prior grant success: written articles, short videos, and live video broadcasts. Our distribution is concentrated primarily on Facebook (matching local demographic usage), but is growing on YouTube, Instagram, and X. Over the calendar year, we produced 370 articles (averaging 2-3 paragraphs) with a reach of 3.91M and engagement of 258k people, 61 short videos (averaging 5 minutes in length) with a reach of 430k and engagement of 173k, and 53 live video broadcasts (averaging 1.5 hours in length) with a reach of 153k and engagement of 67k. This brings the lifetime impact of this project, which predates this nonprofit since 2018, to a reach of 13.1 million with 2.0 million engagements for 1,820 content pieces, including 352 live videos. This includes our own creative content as well as interviews, presentations, and data from the US Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory as well as Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Boosting this expert information to a wider audience sometimes requires a fully remote live-streaming setup with specialized software, video and audio recording equipment, portable power, and Starlink internet - 3 such events were broadcast live in 2025. In the context of the Volcano Education program, the setup is also used as a backup for emergency informational broadcasts, such as when an earthquake disrupts power and internet service. Of the live video productions, 43 included American Sign Language interpretation (~81%), likewise represented in short videos. Through partnership with our interpreters, a specialized vocabulary has developed with the local deaf community to convey the details of volcano monitoring science and hazard response, improving communication during future disasters. All content remains available online for the benefit of future viewers. Our program survey conducted in mid 2025 yielded 95 responses. Participants noted that HVERI's volcano education resulted in a 23% increase in the adequacy of the community and official response to ensure public safety during volcanic eruptions in Hawaii, a 25% increase in confidence in receiving trustworthy information during a volcanic crisis, and a 19% increase in connectedness to the island community. Our online distribution network on a total of 4 social media platforms grew from 144k to 189k subscribers across 2025, an increase of 31%. The Volcano Education program participated in 5 in-person outreach events across the year including disaster preparedness fairs, community events, and field trips, serving an estimated total of 350 people. The in-person outreach work reported above is non-youth focused and separate from events included below in the Youth Development program description for 2025. Other collaborating entities include Hawaii County Civil Defense, the Hawaii Animal Kuleana Alliance, the University of Hawaii at Hilo, and the Pacific Tsunami Museum.
- $86,668 spent. HVERI's Digital Resilience program builds community resilience against natural disasters by networking community members on trusted social media groups, training social media groups as Digital Resilience Hubs (DRHs) that can be activated in collaboration with Hawaii County Civil Defense and physical Resilience Hubs, and integrating digital literacy and artificial intelligence (AI) training, tools, and strategy into local communities. During 2025, the program continued training on Digital Resilience Hub Operations and Social Media Moderation In Disasters, with 12 individuals over 3 sessions representing 5 DRHs. SMMID training includes a half-day seminar, a 2-week moderation mentorship on the Hawaii Tracker Facebook Group with ~180k members at the end of 2025, and a digital simulation based on the 2018 eruption dealing with sharing information sourced from social media. The DRH framework is built on the successes of the Hawaii Tracker Facebook Group, which HVERI continues to maintain as the flagship DRH, training ecosystem, and proving ground for trainees. Its membership, of which an estimated 21% reside within Hawaii according to our analysis of limited Facebook data, grew by 32% from 136k to 180k members across 2025. In collaboration with the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency, emergency messaging is amplified across social media through DRHs similar to the role of emergency radio broadcasts, but with the ability for follow-up two-way communication. Together with the first cohort of 5 DRHs, the combined reach of the full network totals 355k subscribers, a 97% increase over Hawaii Tracker alone. The Digital Resilience program also continued to support digital communications for physical Resilience Hubs, including communication protocols and backup systems involving Starlink units and portable generators. In addition, HVERI maintained a presence at the Vibrant Hawaii Resilience Hub Summit (on Hawaii Island), with ongoing consultation throughout the year to an estimated total of 150 participants. In 2025, HVERI continued to present the digital literacy and AI presentation titled "Protecting Yourself In A Digital World" with 2 in-person sessions in January and February and a combined 50 attendees. A follow-up survey of 9 participants showed a 33% gain in confidence in protecting themselves online, 60% gain in ability to identify fake profiles on social media, 33% gain in recognizing and avoiding deceptive schemes, 63% gain in familiarity with AI models like ChatGPT, 47% gain in familiarity with AI image generators, and a 65% gain in using tools like anti-virus or pop-up blockers to enhance digital security. Finally, in partnership with Civil Defense and VOAD, HVERI assisted in the planning and execution of in-person Preparedness Fairs held in Pahoa and Kailua-Kona during 2025. HVERI staff during these events split time between event coordination, recording or live streaming presentations from experts, and sharing our own services and support with the public, with an estimated combined in-person attendance of 200. Along with the Youth Development program through the Hawaii Science and Technology Museum's Science Night series, as well as the "Youth Resilience Through Place-Based Visual Storytelling Using AI" pilot project, the Digital Resilience Program has developed and presented interactive activities to youth, introducing the ethical and responsible use of AI and other emerging technologies.
- $104,978 spent. HVERI's newest program builds community resilience by helping youth develop competence, confidence, connection, character, and compassion as key outcomes to help them overcome severe stress and high-risk conditions. Leaning on the Volcano Education and Digital Resilience programs to provide opportunities, youth are empowered to be involved in decision-making, develop leadership skills, meaningfully engage with community and make real contributions, develop and test new knowledge and practical skills, experience success, develop positive and supportive relationships with adults and peers, and engage with adults around common goals. Over time, facilitators provide supports that create a safe physical and emotional environment for youth with clear appropriate boundaries and guidance, facilitate supportive youth-adult relationships, and engage family, school, and community as partners with youth. They help overcome mistakes, encourage a sense of belonging, build new skills, and enable youth to better their communities. The "Volcano Outreach Traveling Toolkit" offered up to 8 educational component activities for skill development, to increase public awareness of the science and hazards of volcanoes, and to inspire better preparedness in families and among youth. It was deployed at 9 events in East Hawaii during the year, serving over 1,530 youth based on event logs, finding particular success at regional "Science Nights" in collaboration with the Hawaii Science and Technology Museum (HSTM). Youth could recreate lava flows with corn syrup, examine gas bubbles moving through different viscosity fluids, compare models of strato and shield volcanoes along with elephant toothpaste analogues of their eruptions, induce magma mixing by dropping alka-seltzer into DIY lava lamps, observe crater formation and caldera collapse in a tub of flour with a buried balloon, or use modified stomp-rockets to launch lava bombs at different angles. The components have been designed to accomodate a rapid pace of interactions, but are robust enough to become full classroom lab exercises with development of lesson plans for different age groups in the future. We also maintain a web page with links to free DIY educational activities, preparedness videos, and teaching resources. HVERI mentored one intern and two teams of University of Hawaii at Hilo Computer Science students during the second half of 2025. The intern from North Seattle College, began work in late 2025 focused on digital media and community engagement, learned and supported Facebook and YouTube moderation, OBS recording, video creation, and daily social media posting over a one-month period. Computer Science students in a software development course continued previous work on the "Aloha AI Watchtower" to compile situation reports using AI from information solicited on social media. These are fact-checked and delivered to Hawaii County Civil Defense to aid their situational awareness in the lead up to potential disasters, such as a hurricane landfall. A second group of students began development of a digital interface of lava flow simulations on Hawaii Island for use in outreach events, with both projects continuing into 2026. The "Youth Resilience Through Place-Based Visual Storytelling Using AI" project continued and concluded its pilot run in 2025 in collaboration with Pohaku Pelemaka, cultiminating in 9 days of student outreach for a total of 175 youth. Primarily intended to promote opportunities where youth can develop leadership, creative problem-solving, and collaborative skills, the project also grows cultural and volcano awareness while introducing AI skills, digital literacy, and the ethical and responsible use of emerging technologies. The outreach workshops entail a portable setup with a computer and projector under a canopy, connected by Starlink to the internet. Students are introduced to the mechanics of AI image generation along with a theme, for this project consisting of the volcanic history of the presentation location and Hawaiian cultural references to the place, before being unleashed to create and explore the AI tool and theme. 26 students participated in 2 pilot workshops spanning 7 days, while the remainder experienced a pop-up version developed to increase access to a greater number of students. Using the YES 2.0 survey of developmental markers, most notable are a 58% jump in "I do things here I don't get to do anywhere else," a 41% jump in "I put all my energy into this activity," & a 24% gain in "computer and internet skills", based on 7 complete responses. The development of the pop-up version for the previous project directly led to two other products under the program's umbrella. The first is HVERI's "AI Literacy Lab", which takes the same approach but broadens the themes and cultural connections selected in order to make its content more relevant to participants. Following its 2025 pilot, this product is ready for widespread deployment in 2026. Second is another HVERI collaboration with HSTM, also including the University of Hawaii at Hilo's Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES) program, to design a new model of career day outreach for high school students under the project name "Pathways With Purpose" following an HVERI pilot in May 2025. In this case, AI image generation is used to help students visualize themselves in their career of choice. This approach overcomes the barriers of limited career exposure, lack of representation, abstract career planning, and low self-confidence by giving youth a personalized, culturally relevant visual experience of themselves in future career roles. This project is also scheduled for a larger pilot and widespread deployment in 2026.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since June 2023.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.