Manager, Community Engagement

Community Engagement Manager

The Community Engagement Manager is responsible for leading Lili?uokalani Trust's community engagement strategy across all islands by building authentic relationships with Native Hawaiian communities, partners, participants, and ?ohana. This position ensures that the voices, experiences, and aspirations of the communities served are intentionally gathered, synthesized, and integrated into organizational planning, program design, evaluation, and continuous improvement. The Manager supervises Community Engagement Specialists and works collaboratively across the organization to strengthen trust, partnerships, and community-informed decision making.

Essential Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and continuously refine an organization-wide community engagement strategy that advances Lili?uokalani Trust's mission, strategic priorities, and commitment to Native Hawaiian communities.
• Lead the planning, coordination, and execution of community engagement initiatives that strengthen relationships with participants, ?ohana, community leaders, Native Hawaiian organizations, schools, cultural practitioners, nonprofits, government agencies, and other strategic partners.
• Identify opportunities to expand community partnerships that increase access to Trust programs, services, and resources while fostering long-term collaborative relationships.
• Ensure community engagement efforts are culturally grounded, trauma-informed, strengths-based, and reflective of Native Hawaiian values, traditions, and community priorities.
• Develop annual engagement plans, priorities, and performance goals that align with departmental and organizational objectives.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to leadership regarding community engagement opportunities, emerging issues, and partnership development.

Community Voice & Relationship Management

• Develop and oversee comprehensive community listening strategies that intentionally gather the voices, experiences, aspirations, and concerns of Native Hawaiian communities, partners, and stakeholders.
• Lead the design and facilitation of listening sessions, community forums, focus groups, interviews, surveys, advisory groups, and other engagement activities.
• Build and sustain trusted relationships with community organizations, Native Hawaiian leaders, educational institutions, service providers, and public agencies.
• Ensure that community relationships are nurtured through regular communication, transparency, responsiveness, and meaningful collaboration.
• Identify emerging community needs, opportunities, trends, and challenges that may influence organizational strategy and program development.
• Serve as an ambassador for Lili?uokalani Trust by representing the organization at community meetings, conferences, networking events, and collaborative initiatives.

Organizational Insight & Strategic Decision Support

• Translate qualitative community feedback into meaningful organizational insights that support strategic planning, program development, evaluation, and continuous improvement.
• Partner with the Director of Impact & Insights to identify recurring themes, emerging issues, and opportunities across communities.
• Collaborate with the Research & Evaluation team to analyze community engagement findings and integrate qualitative data into broader organizational reporting.
• Prepare executive summaries, reports, presentations, and recommendations that communicate community perspectives to organizational leadership.
• Ensure community voice is consistently incorporated into organizational decision-making processes and strategic initiatives.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Program teams to support participant recruitment, engagement, retention, and community outreach efforts.
• Collaborate with the Research & Evaluation team to design community-informed evaluation activities, qualitative research, and data collection strategies.
• Work alongside the Quality Assurance team to identify opportunities to improve participant experiences based on community feedback.
• Coordinate with the Communications team to ensure messaging accurately reflects community priorities and strengthens organizational relationships.
• Collaborate with the Access & Referral team to strengthen referral pathways, increase community awareness of Trust services, and improve access to programs.
• Support cross-department initiatives by providing community engagement expertise during organizational projects, strategic planning efforts, and new program development.

Performance Measurement & Continuous Improvement

• Develop and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure the effectiveness, reach, quality, and impact of community engagement activities.
• Evaluate engagement strategies using qualitative and quantitative data to identify successes, gaps, and opportunities for improvement.
• Develop dashboards and reports that communicate engagement outcomes, participation trends, partnership growth, and community satisfaction.
• Recommend improvements to community engagement processes, tools, and methodologies based on evaluation findings and community feedback.
• Ensure community engagement practices remain aligned with organizational priorities, industry best practices, and evolving community needs.

Community Partnership Development

• Identify, cultivate, and maintain strategic community partnerships that support the Trust's mission and expand opportunities for Native Hawaiian kamali?i and ?ohana.
• Work collaboratively with community organizations to develop mutually beneficial partnerships that leverage shared resources, expertise, and community assets.
• Represent the Trust in collaborative planning efforts, coalitions, advisory groups, and statewide initiatives.
• Monitor partnership effectiveness and recommend strategies for strengthening long-term collaboration and collective impact.

Administrative & Operational Leadership

• Develop and manage annual work plans, project timelines, and engagement calendars for the Community Engagement team.
• Monitor departmental priorities and ensure projects are completed on time and within scope.
• Support budget planning and resource allocation for community engagement initiatives.
• Maintain accurate documentation of community engagement activities, partnership agreements, meeting outcomes, and engagement metrics.
• Ensure compliance with organizational policies, procedures, and documentation standards.
• Perform other duties as assigned in support of departmental and organizational objectives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Community Development, Public Administration, Social Work, Native Hawaiian Studies, Public Health, Communications, Sociology, Organizational Leadership, or a related field.
• Master's degree preferred.
• Minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in community engagement, partnership development, community organizing, public engagement, or a related field.
• Minimum of two (2) years of supervisory or management experience, including leading, coaching, and developing professional staff.
• Experience designing and implementing community engagement strategies across multiple stakeholder groups.
• Experience facilitating community meetings, listening sessions, focus groups, and collaborative partnerships.
• Experience synthesizing community feedback into actionable recommendations that inform organizational strategy, program design, or continuous improvement.
• Experience working collaboratively across multiple departments and with external partners to achieve shared goals.
• Required: Demonstrated experience engaging with Native Hawaiian communities and building authentic, trust-based relationships with Native Hawaiian individuals, ?ohana, community leaders, cultural practitioners, and Native Hawaiian organizations.
• Required: Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of Native Hawaiian history, culture, values, community systems, and the unique strengths, opportunities, and challenges of Native Hawaiian communities, with the ability to apply this understanding to community engagement, relationship building, and partnership development.

Job Competencies

• Knowledge of Native Hawaiian culture, community engagement principles, stakeholder engagement, qualitative research methods, and partnership development.
• Excellent relationship-building, facilitation, communication, leadership, strategic planning, analytical, and project management skills.
• Ability to build trust, lead multiple initiatives, influence organizational decision-making, and collaborate across departments.
• Able to work flexible hours, including nights and weekends, to meet key deadlines. Able to travel to meet strategic needs.

Organization Competencies

• Alignment with Queen's legacy: Understanding and appreciation of Queen Liliuokalani's story, her legacy and the Hawaiian Culture is foundational to staff's commitment to working with our Hawaiian children, families and communities. Demonstrates respect for and appreciation of Hawaiian values history, and culture, understanding its implication in one's work, in fostering meaningful relationships, and in embracing the community served.
• Ho`omau i ka `imi Na`auao (Continuous Learning and Improvement): Committed to creating and reinforcing an environment of continuous learning and improvement.
• Ho`ike i na Mana`o Pono (Effective Communication): Communicates with those we serve and each other in a consistent manner that results in mutual understanding, harmony, and action.
• No'ono'o loi (Critical Thinking and Problem Solving): Actively and skillfully understands, conceptualizes, applies, analyzes, synthesizes, and/or evaluates information and develops and supports fact-based analyses and recommendations.
• Ho'o kumu a'e or `Imi hakuhia (Innovation): Identifies and integrates creative ideas into new or existing services and promotes effective problem-solving.