The FBI’s Honolulu field office has tapped the Coalition for a Drug‑Free Hawaii for one of its top community nods, naming the nonprofit this year’s recipient of the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award. The honor recognizes organizations that go above and beyond to educate the public on preventing crime and violence. FBI Honolulu announced the pick in a post on X on Saturday.
What the Award Recognizes
The Director’s Community Leadership Award was created to spotlight individuals and organizations whose efforts strengthen communities while helping drive down crime and violence. Each year, field offices across the country choose one local recipient on behalf of the FBI. In its recent post on X, the Honolulu office identified the Coalition for a Drug‑Free Hawaii as this year’s honoree.
Local Funding and Programs
The Coalition for a Drug‑Free Hawaii runs prevention programs across the islands, focusing on community education and youth outreach, and has landed federal public‑health funding to keep those efforts afloat. Federal grant records show multiple SAMHSA and CDC awards going to the group, according to the HHS' TAGGS database.
Roots in the Kapolei Community
FBI Honolulu had already spotlighted the coalition’s work at the neighborhood level. In 2022, the office named E Ola Pono Ma Kapolei, a Kapolei‑based community program under the coalition’s umbrella, as its DCLA recipient, citing its school‑based outreach and youth substance‑use prevention efforts. The field‑office profile notes that E Ola Pono Ma Kapolei operates as part of the Coalition for a Drug‑Free Hawaii and details its work in local schools, according to FBI Honolulu.
The new award links the coalition’s federally funded prevention work with ongoing law‑enforcement outreach, giving school and community partners across Oʻahu a national spotlight. Community groups and local officials often lean on this kind of recognition to boost visibility, strengthen programming, and support funding opportunities for youth prevention initiatives.
