Breaking the Cycle for Puna’s Youth

By Maria Sherow

For Sylvia Dolena, directing Puna’s new Youth Hub wasn’t just a decision. It was a calling.

“The youth on this island, especially in East Hawaiʻi, have very little access to education around business and job skills,” Dolena explains. For her, closing that gap is personal. “It’s key in breaking the cycle of poverty. It’s key in helping them build their confidence and take on new challenges.”

A Program Born from Urgency

The free Youth Hub program serves youth ages 14 to 19. Its mission is to connect young people to real jobs or educational opportunities and walk with them toward self-sufficiency.

Dolena doesn’t sugarcoat the need. Hawaiʻi ranks 40th out of 50 states in education. In public schools statewide, only 32% of students meet math standards and just 35% meet science standards. In Puna, where nearly 50% of families rely on SNAP benefits, those numbers hit harder.

“These aren’t just statistics,” Dolena says. “This is our kids. This is our future.”

Why Puna’s Youth Need a Path Forward

The stakes extend beyond the classroom. Today, more Native Hawaiians live outside Hawaiʻi than in the state. About 370,000 live on the mainland compared to 309,800 at home. Many leave because they’ve been priced out. Rent consumes 42% of income on average, the highest in the nation.

Dolena remembers a past effort, Kamaʻāina Come Home, that tried to bring Hawaiians back by matching skills to jobs and housing. It struggled. “People living on the mainland find it easier,” she notes. “They don’t face the same expenses and challenges we have here.”

For Dolena, the solution starts earlier, with keiki. Keeping kamaʻāina home means investing in youth while they’re still here, with jobs that pay more than minimum wage, and with the belief that their aspirations are real. They can do it. They just need a path forward and the commitment to walk it.

Right now, Dolena says, too many youth can’t picture that path. “It’s been conditioned out of them. They have lost hope, and it is heartbreaking to see that happen to their potential. Their work is to replace that conditioning with a new message of “I can.”

She points to a Nas song in which children chant, “Yes we can. I can do what I want to do. I can be whoever I want to be,” and names it her inspiration.

She sees the same pattern in the Women’s Workshop she leads. “Women and girls are conditioned from an early age to think they can’t. If we give them a way to break out and say, ‘Yes, you can,’ everything changes.”

Step One: Opening Their Eyes to Opportunity

The program is step one. After the youth register, they complete a Career Interest Self-Assessment to determine what they are good at, what feels easy, and what they love to do.

Then comes training in skills employers want, such as self-confidence, teamwork, communication, feedback, leadership, and time management. All delivered through experiential activities, games, and mentorship with local business owners. Most trainings will be delivered through YouTube videos.

This work aligns with the Education sector of the CHANGE model from Hawaiʻi Community Foundation. For more on CHANGE, visit https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/change.

Meet the Team

Sylvia Dolena brings global business experience from Hewlett-Packard and past work with disadvantaged youth in rural California through a program called Digital Bridge.

Assistant Director Steven Kai Manner builds and maintains the online platform. A former tech workshop host featured on KITV’s coverage of Iopa MaunaKea’s Youth Jamm event, Kai knows firsthand what it means to lift up fellow youth.

A Wake-Up Call for Parents and Community

Dolena is clear about her audience. “It’s not just the kids,” she says. “It’s the parents who can pass this on.”

Her message to them: know the statistics and know you have a role. Statewide, only 51% of 2022 public school graduates enrolled in post-secondary education within a year. Just 33% entered a 4-year college. In East Hawaiʻi, the numbers have historically been lower.

“Do I want people horrified by the statistics? Yes. I want to wake them up,” Dolena says. “Because the default can’t be they’ll go to the mainland. This is our future.”

She’s seen this model work before. In California’s Central Valley, migrant youth facing horrendous conditions found a path with the right support. “Puna can do the same,” she says. “But we need community support to offer apprenticeships and other opportunities. It won’t be perfect. It’s a learning process, and we will all benefit.”

The Problem We’re Solving

Puna faces layered challenges. The Kīlauea eruption and COVID-19 wiped out small businesses and jobs. USGS economists estimate $94 million in lost economic benefit and a drop from 2,020 to 1,040 jobs in affected areas. Farm losses reached $27.9 million. Recovery costs top $800 million.

Add inflation and the highest rent burden in the U.S., and vulnerable families get squeezed hardest. For many Puna youth, fast-food jobs feel like the only option after high school, not because of a lack of ambition, but because of a lack of access.

The next big step is the Puna Youth Career Fair on Saturday, August 15, 2026, from 11 am to 2 pm at the HAAS Pavilion 15-1397 Post Office Road in Pāhoa.

Sign up at https://punarising.com/youthcareerfair to get more information.

For Businesses

Dolena’s invitation to businesses is simple: “Please help us develop the next generation of the local workforce.”

Businesses are asked to:

• Host a table to share information on their business or industry
• Send a representative to engage with youth by answering questions and explaining required skills
• Provide apprenticeship information and application details if available
• Share any job openings and how to apply

“Every young person who finds their path here means one more family that can stay,” Dolena says. “One more business that can grow with local talent. One more step toward a self-sufficient Puna.”

To register a youth or reserve a business table, go to https://punarising.com/youthcareerfair.

“Puna’s future is already here,” Dolena says. “He’s 16, she’s 19. They’re asking what’s next? Let’s be the community that answers.”