ABOUT US

The Hawaii Leadership Residency (HLR) is a program by Aloha With Action (AWA), a Hawaiian nonprofit 501(c)3.

HLR exists to activate young leaders by engaging them in immersive discipleship, hands-on service, and intentional community on the island of Kaua’i.

See our landing page what we do, our FAQ for our beliefs. See below to learn about our team and key relationships.

OUR TEAM

  • Eric and Lyn Taylor

    FOUNDERS

    Originally from South Africa, the Taylors are the visionaries behind Makanalani and the Residency. After raising their family in Irvine, California and leaving Corporate America in the early 2000’s, the journey of building Makanalani began. Read more about how we started.

  • Noah

    RESIDENCY DIRECTOR

    Noah loves our precious Lord Jesus, and wishes to see Gen Z ignited by the flame of His Spirit. Noah oversees sheep flocks and farm service, directs programming, and collaborates with Genesis Collective on the teaching side. He has experience in media and film, was an NCAA athlete, and studied philosophy at Wheaton College. 

  • Lydia

    RESIDENCY COORDINATOR

    Lydia has a heart for worshipping the Lord through service and mentorship. She served at a church plant in O’ahu before coming to Kauai. She has a background in camp ministry, mentoring, farming, and entrepreneurship; and is thrilled to be using all of these experiences to serve as a coordinator. She leads production of our farm-to-market products.

  • STAFF-ALAKA'I

    Seth

    STAFF-ALAKA’I

    Seth’s desire is for Jesus and to share the simple gospel. He is a Staff-Alaka’i, a missionary for the next year at HLR. Seth mentors residents through small groups and teaching, and oversees citrus and farm service. He is an artist with the account @burnallidols, where he evangelizes through drawings of Bible stories. Click HERE to donate to Seth’s full-time mission!

  • Deanna

    Deanna is our Staff Alaka’i on the girls’ side. Bio coming soon…

FOUNDING— MAKANALANI KIDS

HLR proceeded from the “Makanalani Internship Program” and remains partnered with Makanalani, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides incredible free-of-cost camp experiences to the underprivileged and to island youth. Out of support of their vision and service, we partner with Makanalani by providing volunteer service from our residents.

At Makanalani, our residents have the opportunity to lead Kid’s camps, maintain the Kid’s House tend the gorgeous land (‘Āina), harvest fruit, and care for animals.

GLOBAL— GENESIS COLLECTIVE

We have an apostolic partnership with the Genesis Collective, a group of Global adventurers, Gospel storytellers, and Jesus-community creators spanning dozens of churches that sow into the nations.

On God’s timing, Eric and Lyn Taylor (HLR founders) met Chris and Meryl Weinand (Genesis Founders) and together they dreamt to augment the program with robust teachings and a discipleship culture.

The collective collaborates with HLR to craft curriculum and send in families to pour into residents. Most weeks of teaching are led by GC leaders. In turn, residents are connected to a global network– pastors, church planters, and marketplace leaders with Biblical motives. Residents have access to this network for the rest of their lives: to keep up with mentors, to travel on mission, and to get connected with careers or living situations.

LOCAL

Residents will have the opportunity to visit, encourage, or even serve with other local churches and ministries; including Calvary North Shore and Kaua’i Christian Fellowship North. We also have a relationship with Amen Podcast, a nonprofit dedicated to preaching the word both digitally and here on island.