Aloha mai kākou! ‘O Summer Helms ko‘u inoa. No Kahuku mai au. Noho au ma Pūpūkea. Hello everyone! My name is Summer Helms. I was born in Kahuku. I live in Pūpūkea (on the North Shore of O‘ahu). For the past 20 years, I have served and supported Hawaiian-serving organizations and institutions as an independent consultant providing grantwriting and evaluation services.  My passion and drive comes from the people, place, and culture of Hawaiʻi. Although I am not of Hawaiian ancestry, I have dedicated my life’s work to supporting those who are working to perpetuate ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language) and supporting the advancement of the Hawaiian people and culture.  

My love for evaluation began while working towards my Master’s degree in Public Health at San Diego State University.  As an evaluation coordinator in San Diego, I witnessed the educational disparities that existed because of socioeconomic status and ethnic backgrounds. My work included developing and implementing evaluation protocols for programs such as Tobacco Use Prevention, Safe and Drug Free Schools, and Teen Pregnancy Prevention as well as co-authoring several of the initial and renewal grant proposals for these programs. I soon became the lead evaluator for the County of San Diego Office of Public Health, primarily for Tobacco Prevention Programs. The experience in the Los Angeles and San Diego Unified School Districts instilled in me an awareness of the role evaluation has in bringing about equity, advancing social justice, and supporting educational opportunities to benefit those in need. 

I was called home by the University of Hawai‘i, Kaua‘i Community College to serve as their grantwriter and to conduct a needs assessment in the community of Anahola.   While in the UH system, I also held the position of Project Director for several grants and later became an Institutional Researcher. In 2005, I decided to open my own business and leverage the skills I'd gained as an evaluator, grantwriter, project director, and researcher to find and support my true passion. My greatest inspiration comes from my long-time client, ʻAha Pūnana Leo. My work with ʻAha Pūnana Leo has taught me that social justice for the Hawaiian people can be reality through the revitalization and perpetuation of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi. They have shown me that through the language the culture lives. ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi brings out ʻike Hawaiʻi and culture-based education because woven through the language is the Hawaiian Worldview. The work of ʻAha Puana Leo is truly inspirational and I am honored to be a part of their journey as their grant writer and evaluator.  

I reside on the North Shore of O‘ahu, in the ahupua’a of Pūpūkea, with my three sons, Nainoa, Kekoa, and Kawai.