E.N. West is the co-founder and lead organizer of the Faith Land Initiative of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing older and...
Purpose Prize
The Latest from CoGenerate
In Rural Oregon, Bringing Generations Together for Financial Wellness
Maree Beers is the co-director of Empowering Tillamook Country through Financial Wellness, a program of Urban Rural Action, and one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing...
Access Gallery Brings Artists with Disabilities Together Across Generations
Damon McLeese is the executive director of Access Gallery, one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing older and younger people together to open doors to economic opportunity...
*
Eddie Kamae
Purpose Prize Fellow 2006
Preserving and perpetuating the cultural heritage of Hawai'i
Eddie Kamae, now 79, was in his sixties when he began to make documentaries. A professional musician, he dove into filmmaking after being inspired by a 90-year-old traditional Hawaiian songwriter. In his film work, Kamae tells the stories of Hawaii and its people before the state’s rapid transition from an isolated agrarian community to a Western-influenced modern society. His goal is to pass on the traditional values, voices, and culture to younger generations. In his eight films, Kamae has captured the words, songs, expressions, and activities of more than 40 kupuna, or Hawaiian elders, the last living links to pre-modern Hawaiian life. The films have been shown at major film festivals in the United States and have been purchased by the state prison system for its rehabilitation program. Though 2.3 million people have seen his work, including 800,000 school children, Kamae works to make sure his films remain widely accessible and to preserve the irreplaceable materials entrusted to him by his subjects.