A Hawaiʻi Island nonprofit is reeling from President Donald Trump's orders to eliminate funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

Justin Canelas is the program director at Recycle Hawaiʻi, which was nearly a year into an educational program funded by a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. However last week, he learned of the Trump administration's executive orders to block federal funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Canelas scrambled to withdraw money for the week's payroll. Since then, his organization's account has been locked. HPR spoke to him about the impacts of the Trump administration's policy and what he thinks many are getting wrong about DEI.
Recycle Hawaiʻi has launched a fundraiser to keep the youth-led recycling program running while the group's federal funding remains frozen — and its future uncertain. For more information, click here.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Feb. 4, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.