CONSORTIUM FOR HAWAII ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION

The Consortium for Hawai‘i Ecological Engineering Education (CHEEE), doing business as Mālama ʻĀina Foundation, was founded to bring together organizations focused on protecting Hawaiʻi’s natural environment and to create culture-based ecological and STEAM education for Native Hawaiian and other students. The organization operates hands-on, place-based programs that connect Hawaiian cultural knowledge with science, technology, engineering, arts and math to strengthen student learning and stewardship of ʻāina. Mālama ʻĀina Foundation delivers in-school, after-school, intersession and mobile STEAM programming (including the Mahope after-school program, the Ke Kaʻa ʻEnehana STEAMobile, and the Māla Kūpono garden/planter curriculum) and maintains downloadable, standards-aligned curriculum for K–12 educators. The organization partners with schools, universities and community groups across Hawaiʻi to reach students and support educator training. In recent years the organization has scaled federally funded programming and expanded its curriculum and outreach across multiple islands, serving school and community settings and sustaining partnerships with public and philanthropic funders to deliver culture-centered STEM education.