GRETCHEN ERTL
One of the world’s most isolated landmasses, Hawaii imports almost 90% of its food. After earning a degree in science, technology, and society from Brown University, Grande came to MIT to explore how nonprofits could combine island knowledge with innovation to foster independence. “I was interested to learn from the people who have held and are restoring long-term relationships with ‘āina,” she says.
For her dissertation, Grande investigated Hawaii’s legacies of colonialism and militarization and learned about ancestral irrigation, fertilization, and harvesting techniques for kalo (also called taro), a traditional crop whose leaves, stems, and potato-like tubers are rich in nutritional and medicinal value. She discovered that abundance emerges not just from the land but from family and community bonds—a point driven home as she grew her own kalo and shared food and seeds with the extended community.
In her role at the University of Hawai‘i Foundation, she works to ensure that students have the financial and educational support they need. “I’m interested to provide students with the opportunity to earn a living wage in Hawaii while staying true to traditional Hawaiian values of place and community,” she says. She believes that traditional Hawaiian practices present an invaluable, global model for promoting sustainability through community cohesion: “We have to preserve this intergenerational knowledge to care for ‘āina, which provides for us physically, mentally, and spiritually.”
