In November 2016, Lisa Gibson received an email from Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg, founders of Indivisible. They shared a Practical Guide to Democracy on the Brink and called for volunteers to start local groups. Lisa had no clue what that meant, but she signed up. In December 2016, Levin and Greenberg sent her email addresses from other interested parties who also lived in Hawaiʻi.
In December 2016, she reached out to others in Hawaiʻi who had also responded, and invited them to meet at Coffee Talk on Waialae Avenue in Honolulu. Seven people showed up, and agreed to keep meeting on Sunday mornings. By the end of January 2017, forty people were coming every Sunday.
A man named Ray Markey joined the group and started organizing weekly protests at the Trump Tower. Around the same time, Indivisible National called on chapters to meet with their elected representatives, so Lisa arranged regular visits to the offices of Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, and Representatives Colleen Hanabusa and Tulsi Gabbard. It was through this work that Lisa met Gaye Chan, then a professor at the University of Hawaiʻi and founder of J20+. Soon after, Younghee Overley, Gil Mendelsohn, and Martha Nakajima joined the group.
Writing postcards, changing outcomes
Ahead of the 2018 midterms, the group turned to postcarding: handwritten notes to voters in swing states to encourage them to vote and flip Congressional seats. Sixty-five Indivisible Hawaiʻi members wrote 7,313 postcards for that first effort. Two years later, for the 2020 election, 218 members wrote more than 80,000. In 2024, 700 members wrote 185,000.
Find out more about how postcarding works and how to get involved.
Becoming a statewide network
For years, Indivisible Hawaiʻi operated as a single Honolulu-based chapter. Then came November 5, 2024.
Interest in Indivisible grew rapidly across the islands. Lisa could see that the Honolulu group needed to become something larger. She began calling politically active people across Hawaiʻi, asking who wanted to start a local chapter. Indivisible National offered to fund a statewide convening. By July 2025, a dozen local groups came together to form the Indivisible Hawaiʻi Statewide Network (IHSN).
Taking to the streets
As the network grew, so did its presence on the ground. In 2025, local chapters began organizing protest events across the islands. The Big Island chapters alone organized up to seven events on national protest days.
On June 14, 2025, Kick Out the Clowns drew participants statewide as part of the national No Kings! day of action. On October 18, 2025, No Dictators! brought out 22,000 people across all major islands. On March 28, 2026, the third edition of No Dictators! saw 25,000 join, even as the main event at the State Capitol was disrupted by a bomb threat.
Each of these was part of a coordinated national mobilization by Indivisible, which has turned out millions of people across the country.
Find all upcoming events on this page.
Making a difference at every level
In 2026, the IHSN Public Policy workgroup supported 57 bills in the Hawaiʻi State Legislature. They work together to submit testimony on bills that matter, and this collective action is turning into tangible results: our movement is influencing legislation in real time, especially on issues that help to protect our freedom and safety, and that of our neighbors.
The impact has been felt locally too. On Hawaiʻi Island, Indivisible members were instrumental in changing the police chief after ICE raids, and in advancing civil rights protections for immigrants through the county. On Maui, they reversed moves by the County Council and police to cooperate with federal immigration agencies. On Oʻahu, Indivisibles are closely engaged in the selection of a new police chief.
Postcarding continued to grow as well. In 2025, an off-year for elections, 293 Indivisibles in Hawaiʻi wrote 83,000 postcards to get out the vote in local elections.
Join the Indivisible movement
Today, Indivisible Hawaiʻi Statewide Network is a major force for civic participation across the islands. Join us everywhere Indivisibles get together: at postcard parties, potlucks, local events, and advocacy actions.