From Listening to Action
Building a Language Access Response System for Hawaiʻi
One day. Community leads. Together we build the Hawaiʻi Language Access Response Playbook for disaster response and management.
Free to attend · By registration only · 50 seats
Palama Settlement810 N. Vineyard Blvd., Honolulu
When disaster strikes, information is a lifeline.
For many residents, that information arrives in a language they cannot read, through channels they do not use, from sources they do not know.
Translating more documents will not fix this. Hawaiʻi needs agencies and organizations that plan, communicate, coordinate, and listen differently.
This Summit is not a series of panels. It is a working session where community members, government, and nonprofits build the tools together.
Shift 01
From government telling communities
To government listening and building with them
Shift 02
From language access as an accommodation
To language access as an operating principle
Shift 03
From responding after a disaster
To building it in before
“Nothing about communities without communities.”
You won’t just attend. You’ll leave with something real.
Test and re-test happen after the Summit, through the Playbook’s after-action loop.
Output 01
Community Experience Map
What people need and where the system breaks.
Output 02
System Gap Map
Failure points in a disaster communication journey.
Output 03
Readiness Framework
What “ready” means across eight domains — with an addendum for each county.
Output 04
Response Protocols
Step by step, from identifying needs to adapting.
Output 05
Practical Tools
Checklists, message templates, a frontline decision tree.
Output 06
Self-Assessment & Commitments
A readiness baseline, with “Tested” as the top level — and 90-day actions.
All of it becomes the Hawaiʻi Language Access Response Playbook — a practical guide for emergency managers, nonprofit leaders, and frontline staff.
Listen first. Then map, build, and commit.
Wednesday, December 2, 2026 · 8:30 AM – 2:00 PM · Palama Settlement, Honolulu. A one-day working session, built to produce: every step feeds the next, and every output lands in the Playbook.
Check-in & Community Listening Cards
Opening
Listening Circles
Find the Breaks
County Readiness Standards
Working Lunch & Resource Exchange
Playbook Design Labs
Self-Assessment, Commitment Cards & Report Back
At a glance
- 8:30Check-in & Community Listening CardsNeed story & theme bank
- 9:00Opening — from language access to language-ready systemsAgreed principles + national context
- 9:30Listening Circles1 · Community Experience Map
- 10:20Break
- 10:35Find the Breaks2 · System Gap Map
- 11:15County Readiness Standards3 · Readiness Framework (draft) + county addenda
- 12:15Working Lunch & Resource ExchangePartner & resource inventory
- 12:45Playbook Design Labs4 · Protocols & 5 · Tools
- 1:35Self-Assessment, Commitment Cards & Report Back6 · Self-assessment baseline + commitments
- 2:00Close
Featured talk · 9:00 AM
Peniel Ibe
National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA)
Her work with NPNA and its Disaster Management Cohort — and what she is seeing across the U.S. from a climate justice and disaster response perspective, including policy.
Before the Summit
You mark up. You don’t start from scratch.
HCIR pre-drafts the eight-domain framework, the seven-step response protocol, a message template, the frontline decision tree, and the self-assessment. Participants correct and improve them in the room; final assembly follows within HCIR.
County Readiness Standards · 11:15 AM – 12:15 PM
Four counties, one framework.
Participants break out by county and mark up HCIR’s pre-drafted eight domains: what does “ready” look like here? Forty minutes at county tables, then twenty minutes comparing across counties and reporting out.
Every table uses the same eight domains — Leadership, Know Your Community, People & Capacity, Communication, Frontline Access, Partnership, Emergency & Recovery, Measurement — and records what “ready” means for its county, what already exists, and what must differ from a statewide standard.
Playbook Design Labs · 12:45 – 1:35 PM
Four labs with pre-built templates. Each lab walks the full chain, from need to measure.
By 2:00 PM, participants have heard the national picture, mapped the gaps, set county-specific standards, drafted core protocols and tools, and committed to 90-day actions. HCIR assembles these outputs into the Playbook.
Community members are the heart of this Summit.
Three audiences, one table. Interpretation, food, and accessibility support are provided for community members — and government and nonprofit partners come to listen and build.
Community members
Your voice leads the day.
Immigrants, refugees, residents with limited English, community organizations, and advocates. Interpretation, food, and accessibility support are provided — and you can ask for the support you need.
Government agencies
Come to listen and build.
Emergency management, health, housing, human services, and schools. Take back tools, a readiness self-assessment, and the commitments you make in the room.
Nonprofits & service providers
Bring the frontline with you.
Your experience shapes the protocols and tools. You leave with what you helped build — and a 90-day commitment card.
Language and access support
Interpretation, translated materials, and plain-language handouts are part of the Summit. When you register, use the Notes field to tell us the language or accessibility support you need — the form also asks about food allergies. The languages offered will be announced to registered participants. What you share stays anonymous unless you choose otherwise.
The venue
Palama Settlement
810 N. Vineyard Blvd., Honolulu, HI 96817
Check-in opens at 8:30 AM. Directions ↗︎
The Hawaiʻi Language Access Response Playbook.
HCIR assembles the Summit’s outputs into a practical guide — about 25 to 35 pages plus tools — for emergency managers, nonprofit leaders, and frontline staff. The draft goes back to the community for review before it is finalized.
What’s inside
- Principles
- Readiness Framework
- Pre-Disaster Checklist
- Response Protocol
- Community Partnership & Two-Way Communication
- Communication Toolkit
- Frontline Protocol
- Recovery
- Self-Assessment
- After-Action Loop
Eight readiness domains
- 01Leadership
- 02Know Your Community
- 03People & Capacity
- 04Communication
- 05Frontline Access
- 06Partnership
- 07Emergency & Recovery
- 08Measurement
Readiness levels
The loop
Registration is open.
Wednesday, December 2, 2026 · 8:30 AM – 2:00 PM. The Summit is free to attend and by registration only — seats are limited to 50. The Summit takes place at Palama Settlement, 810 N. Vineyard Blvd., Honolulu (directions ↗︎). The languages offered will be announced to registered participants. Questions, or want to partner with the Summit? Write to info@hicir.org.
