“It is a gift and privilege to be able to pay it forward.” – Hoʻea Foundation
Eric and Lori Fujimoto want to level the playing field. With their heartfelt mission, dedication to servant leadership, and philanthropic support of Chaminade University, they are reducing barriers that prevent deserving students from accessing opportunity.
“There are students that should be given the opportunity for college based upon their readiness and skill set, as opposed to whether they can afford it,” Eric said. “The weight of tuition can prevent them from the opportunity. So if the donors and the community can support Chaminade, we are leveling the playing field and making college accessible.”
Eric and Lori both graduated from Pearl City High School and earned degrees from Chaminade, Eric with an MBA in 1994 and Lori with a BA in 2001. They have never forgotten the care and attention that their professors and advisors bestowed upon them, and how Chaminade’s close-knit, belonging community made the college experience meaningful and transformational.
They give back to Chaminade in numerous ways, from philanthropic support to leadership and volunteerism. Remembering what it was like to be students who needed real world experiences, Eric and Lori started and provided the prize money for the student Silversword Business Competition through the School of Business and Community each year. They established the Eric, MBA ’94 and Lori ’01 Fujimoto Family Opportunities Fund as a perpetual way to support the University and they joined the Chaminade Fund Society, which is the University’s leadership giving group. Eric now also serves on the University’s Board of Regents.
The Fujimotos exemplify the spirit of giving that enables Chaminade to provide resources and scholarships to students, inspired to not only level the playing field but to also set an example for their own sons, Dylen, 24, and Camden, 20, to follow.
Eric and Lori co-founded Hoʻea Foundation, which is the philanthropic arm of Hoʻea Wealth Advisory Group, the financial planning company that Eric leads. Hoʻea is also the backer of the annual Unity Prom, which celebrated its third anniversary this past November. The Unity Prom brings college students and special education high school students together for a special event complete with dancing, music, food and fun with the purpose of providing a prom experience that special needs students may not have. Chaminade business students and student-athletes have become increasingly involved with the event each year, finding just as much joy in the experience as the high school students who attend.
“I think the word unity is so powerful that it can mean 10 different things,” Eric added. “Because you go in thinking that you’re trying to provide unity for the student with special needs. But you exit, realizing that it’s unified, your Chaminade University, classmates, teammates are united too.”
“The university students left with their hearts filled,” Lori added. “The special education students taught the university students something too, and that’s great. Itʻs like if you want to make a difference or feel good, give, give something. Give something to someone else. That feels good.”