2025-11-17T17:53:48-07:00 2024-12-31 990 2024-01-01 884235317 HAWAIIAN VOLCANO EDUCATION AND RESILIENCE INSTITUTE HAWA 8086403212 PO BOX 1251 VOLCANO HI 96785 Philip Ong Co-Executive Director 8086403212 2025-11-14 1 2024 2025-03-06 01:10:19Z HVERI HAWAII TRACKER Philip Ong PO BOX 1251 VOLCANO HI 96785 396226 0 X https://hveri.org X 2022 HI 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. 3 3 3 16 0 0 90344 388226 5000 8000 0 0 0 0 95344 396226 0 0 0 0 64683 274382 0 0 0 7508 27795 72191 302177 23153 94049 76186 210087 0 0 76186 210087 X 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. 1 0 101614 0 0 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 erupted 3 times during 2024, all within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park but spanning the volcano's summit, Southwest Rift Zone, and Southeast Rift Zone. From January through May, a series of earthquakes tracked repeated intrusions of magma into the Southwest Rift Zone, culminating in a brief eruption on June 3, the area's first in 50 years. Similarly in the Southeast Rift Zone, earthquakes tracking intrusions from July to August led to an eruption from September 10-15, this one trending towards the site of the devastating 2018 eruption and increasing public concern. The public received these events with a general sense of calm considering the connection to 2018, in which we hope to have played some part. The most recent eruption, at the summit starting on December 23, has dropped hazardous tephra on nearby people, property, and the highway while venting caustic gases. This brings the post-2018 total to 9 eruptions on-island. 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 223 articles (averaging 2-3 paragraphs) with a reach of 1.76M and engagement of 120k people, 66 short videos (averaging 9 minutes in length) with a reach of 168k and engagement of 73k, and 65 live video broadcasts (averaging 1.5 hours in length) with a reach of 188k and engagement of 84k. This brings the lifetime impact of this project, which predates this nonprofit since 2018, to a reach of 8.7 million with 1.5 million engagements for 1,336 content pieces, including 299 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 - 13 such events were broadcast live in 2024. 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, 37 included American Sign Language interpretation (~56%), 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 late 2024 yielded 68 responses. Participants noted that HVERI's volcano education resulted in a 24% increase in the adequacy of the community and official response to ensure public safety during volcanic eruptions in Hawaii, a 32% increase in confidence in receiving trustworthy information during a volcanic crisis, and a 26% increase in connectedness to the island community. Our online distribution network on a total of 4 social media platforms grew from 124k to 144k subscribers across 2024, an increase of 16%. The Volcano Education program participated in 6 in-person outreach events across the year including disaster preparedness fairs, community events, and field trips, serving an estimated total of 300 people. During the early part of the year we piloted various displays and activities, yielding success particularly with families and youth. Later in 2024, HVERI formalized a separate Youth Development program, which absorbed that work from this program along with our Volcano Outreach Traveling Toolkit. Thus the in-person outreach work reported above is non-youth focused and separate from events included below in the Youth Development program description for 2024. Other collaborating entities include the University of Hawaii at Hilo and the Pacific Tsunami Museum. 94184 0 7200 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 2024, the program produced 2 written manuals as references for the emerging network of Resilience Hubs, on Digital Resilience Hub Operations and on Social Media Moderation In Disasters, while training the first 8 individuals representing 4 prospective DRHs on the social media moderation module. SMMID training includes a half-day seminar, a 2-week moderation mentorship on the Hawaii Tracker Facebook Group with ~136k members at the end of 2024, and a digital simulation based on the 2018 eruption dealing with sharing information sourced from social media - the latter also developed during the year. 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, 63% within Hawaii according to our survey, grew by 17% from 116k to 136k members across 2024. In collaboration with Civil Defense, 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 5 DRHs approaching certification, the combined reach of the full network totals 270k subscribers, an 83% increase over Hawaii Tracker alone. The Digital Resilience program also supported digital communications for physical Resilience Hubs, including communication protocols and backup systems involving Starlink units and portable generators. In addition, HVERI led instructional sessions at the Vibrant Hawaii Resilience Hub Summit (on Hawaii Island) and the Koolau Resilience Hub Network Symposium (on Oahu), with ongoing consultation throughout the year to an estimated total of 150 participants. Following the 2023 presentation series on "Catching the AI Wave" delivered both to the public and to fellow on-island nonprofits, in 2024 HVERI produced a new digital literacy and AI presentation titled "Protecting Yourself In A Digital World" which was delivered online to a live audience of 22 and remains available as a recording (https://youtu.be/cSfM5qDwtb8). A follow-up survey of 9 participants showed a 41% gain in confidence in protecting themselves online, 73% gain in ability to identify fake profiles on social media, 40% gain in recognizing and avoiding deceptive schemes, 61% gain in familiarity with AI models like ChatGPT, 96% gain in familiarity with AI image generators, and a 42% gain in using tools like anti-virus or pop-up blockers to enhance digital security. Finally, in partnership with Hawaii County Civil Defense and VOAD, HVERI assisted in the planning and execution of in-person Preparedness Fairs held in Hilo and Waimea during 2024. 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 300. 70126 0 0 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. HVERI's Youth Development program was just formalized during 2024 with the board's addition of key language to the nonprofit's mission statement. 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. After development of the toolkit over the first half of 2024, it was deployed at 8 events in East Hawaii starting from June, serving over 500 youth based on event logs, and finding particular success at regional "Science Nights" in collaboration with the Hawaii Science and Technology Museum. 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 initially designed to accomodate a rapid pace of interactions, but they 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. In association with the University of Hawaii at Hilo in Spring 2024, we hosted our first intern in digital production with support from the Big Island Press Club. The intern's completed project streamlined our production of short video volcano content and made it more accessible to youth, while earning course credit and a small stipend. That same term, we also mentored Computer Science students in software development. Students created the "Aloha AI Watchtower" to compile situation reports using AI from information solicited on social media, which were 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. The project continued beyond the mentorship period as a result of students' interests and volunteer efforts, and has recently been adopted for an upgrade by a new group of students in 2025. The "Youth Resilience Through Place-Based Visual Storytelling Using AI" project began towards the end of 2024 in collaboration with Pohaku Pelemaka. 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. 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. The project continued development through the end of 2024 for deployment in 2025. 0 0 0 265924 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 X 0 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 3 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 HI X Philip Ong 8086403212 PO BOX 1251 VOLCANO HI 96785 Philip Ong Co-Executive Director 40 0 X X X 68462 0 19368 Dane DuPont Co-Executive Director 40 0 X X 68462 0 6307 Louis Ettore Executive Manager 40 0 X 43846 0 4586 Matthew Purvis President 0.1 0 X 0 0 0 Susan Osborne Vice-President 0.1 0 X 0 0 0 Gayle DuPont Secretary & Treasurer 0.2 0 X 0 0 0 180770 0 30261 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 212000 176226 0 388226 Contract for preparation of disaster preparedness operational manuals for Vibrant Hawaii 541000 8000 8000 0 0 0 0 0 0 8000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 396226 8000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 247678 222910 24768 0 0 0 0 0 1535 1535 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25169 22652 2517 0 2252 2027 225 0 676 0 676 0 198 0 198 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5850 5850 0 0 113 0 113 0 2879 2039 840 0 5174 4375 799 0 0 0 0 0 4402 3495 907 0 2763 308 2455 0 0 0 0 0 956 200 756 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 592 533 59 0 1940 0 1940 0 0 0 302177 265924 36253 0 38590 35641 0 60000 37500 110000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2960 592 2368 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 96 2078 76186 210087 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 5777 65019 70409 145068 76186 210087 76186 210087 94049 0 39852 0 0 0 X 1 X 0 0 0 X 90344 388226 478570 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 90344 388226 478570 97100 381470 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 478570 13000 X RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED 0 75000 0 0 15000 0 60000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2960 592 2368 0 0 0 0 2368 436078 0 39852 0 0 39852 396226 0 0 0 396226 302177 0 0 0 0 0 302177 0 0 0 302177 Schedule D, Part V, Line 4 The temporarily restricted endowment is intended for general operating expenses of the nonprofit with no restrictions. The endowment makes an additional $15,000 available for these expenses every 6 months starting in October 2024. Form 990, Part III, Line 2 Following the success of in-person outreach directed towards youth as part of the Volcano Education program, and pursuing a strategy to increase capacity for program work through students, interns, and youth volunteers, HVERI's board formally added a new, separate Youth Development program to the nonprofit's operations. The language in our mission statement was updated to specifically include "keiki (youth) and kupuna (seniors)" as targeted groups within our community, while adding "youth development" as another means to "improve disaster preparedness, response, and recovery." The new Youth Development program absorbed the youth-focused work in the Volcano Education program, and specifically the "Volcano Outreach Traveling Toolkit" which was still in development, before being awarded a Puna Strong Collaboration Grant towards the end of the year for "Youth Resilience Through Place-Based Visual Storytelling Using AI." For both of these projects and all future operations, the new program adopts a tested, research-based approach and methodology. For over 40 years, research has shown that young people's chances to overcome stress and high-risk conditions greatly increase when youth develop competence, confidence, connection, character, and compassion. On island, 22% of youth under 18 live below the poverty line according to census data for 2023. Under the Search Institute's Developmental Assets Framework, opportunities allow youth to be involved in decision-making, develop leadership skills, be meaningfully engaged in community and make real contributions, develop and test 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. FEMA-declared disasters in Hawaii now average twice a year, a 4x increase from prior to 2003, compounded by new digital threats like misinformation and AI. Hawaii County has also experienced consistent population growth, averaging 1.4% per year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Data from the Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS) shows that approximately 10% of family households with children under 18 relocated in 2021, meaning new youth are moving to our island - children who could benefit from our Youth Development program. Form 990, Part V, Line 2a Payroll via PEO. The organization processes payroll through a Professional Employer Organization (PEO). The PEO issued Forms W-2 and filed the associated Forms W-3 and employment tax returns under the PEO's EIN. Employee counts reported on line 2a reflect W-3 filings by the PEO as reporting agent. Compensation amounts on Parts VII and IX include amounts paid via the PEO. Form 990, Part VI, Section A, Line 2 Dane DuPont (Co-Executive Director) and Gayle DuPont (Treasurer & Secretary) have a family relationship (mother and son). The board maintains a written conflict-of-interest policy with annual disclosures; affected individuals recuse themselves from related deliberations and votes (including compensation decisions). Form 990, Part VI, Section A, Line 4 On October 21, 2024, the Board approved amendments to the Bylaws revising the organization's "Specific Purpose"/mission clause to: "Section 1.03. Specific Purpose. HVERI works with the Island of Hawaii community including keiki and kupuna, visitors, and other engaged stakeholders to improve disaster preparedness, response and recovery through education, monitoring, resilience network building, and youth development. The strategies to achieve this purpose may include, but are not limited to: a. Providing informational content and educational outreach via social media and in-person events; b. Providing opportunities for new island residents and long-term community members to improve their awareness of place, specifically its natural elements, history, and hazards; c. Maintaining a digital network of community members and partners through platform moderation and volunteer management; d. Supporting island-wide community resilience hubs with digital planning, operations, and disaster response; e. Crowd-sourcing and fact-checking information during a disaster, and sharing timely information with local officials and communities; and f. Developing youth to be more resilient against disasters and other stresses through opportunities involving STEAM content or digital skills relevant to the modern workforce," replacing: "Section 1.03. Specific Purpose. HVERI works with the Island of Hawaii community, visitors, and other engaged stakeholders to improve disaster preparedness, response and recovery through education, monitoring, and resilience network building. The strategies to achieve this purpose may include, but are not limited to: a. Providing informational content and educational outreach via social media and in-person events, including STEM for youth; b. Providing opportunities for new island residents and visitors to learn, prepare, and integrate into local community; c. Maintaining a digital network of community members and partners through platform moderation and volunteer management to crowd-source information in disaster response; d. Supporting island-wide community resilience hubs with digital planning, operations, and disaster response, in addition to the distribution of accurate information. " Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 11b Management prepared a draft Form 990 and provided it, with year-end financial statements, to an independent accountant for review. After incorporating the accountant's comments, management circulated the revised draft by email to the full Board on November 13, 2025, allowing 24 hours for questions and suggested changes. The final Form 990 was then provided to all governing body members before filing. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 12c Each year, all directors and officers complete written conflict-of-interest disclosures using the organization's standard disclosure form at or immediately following the annual board meeting, and new directors/officers complete one upon onboarding. Disclosures are reviewed by the Board and directors. Individuals must promptly update disclosures if circumstances change. When a conflict arises, the interested person is excluded from deliberations/votes, and the board documents the recusal and decision basis in the minutes. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 15 For the Co-Executive Directors (top management officials), the independent directors (excluding the interested persons) reviewed comparability data and approved compensation on October 23, 2023. The board's deliberations, data considered, decision, and effective date were documented in the minutes. For the Executive Manager, the same process was used on January 22, 2024. Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 19 The organization makes its exemption application (Form 1023 and IRS determination letter) and its three most recent Forms 990 available upon request and provides copies within 30 days of written requests. Copies may be provided electronically. Donor names and addresses are not disclosed from Schedule B, consistent with IRS rules.