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Inspiration Hawaii Museum

Inspiration Hawaii Museum Inspiration Hawaii Museum Inspiration Hawaii Museum Inspiration Hawaii Museum

               















900 Richards Street, Honolulu 96813  

Inspiration Hawaii Museum

Inspiration Hawaii Museum Inspiration Hawaii Museum Inspiration Hawaii Museum Inspiration Hawaii Museum

               















900 Richards Street, Honolulu 96813  

Recent Events

People from Hawai'i Inspired the World.

Inspiring the world!

Bette Midler

Born 1945 in Honolulu

Global Entertainer 

4 Golden Globes

3 Grammy Awards

3 Emmy Awards

2 Tony Awards

Dwayne "Rock"Johnson

Raised in Honolulu

Global Entertainer

Steve Case

Born 1958 in Honolulu

Internet Pioneer

CEO of AOL

Jennifer Doudna

Raised in Hilo

Nobel Prize  

Chemistry 2020

Honolulu Little League

World Series Champions 2022

Fashion RUNWAY January 18, 2025

Support the Museum

The museum is not officially open to the public. 


WE ARE OPEN FOR SPECIAL EVENTS. 

Have a sneak-peek  during special events.


The Inspiration Hawaii Museum, Inc. is a non-profit 501 (c) 3. 

Your donation is  tax-deductible.  

Mail check to: Inspiration Hawaii Museum, Inc.

P.O. Box 2693

Honolulu, Hawaii 96803

Phone: 808- 312-4111

gloria@inspirationHawaiiMuseum.org

Donate

Discover the Museum

Untold Stories

The Inspiration Hawaii Museum tells the untold stories of people who grew up in Hawai'i and how they ended up inspiring the world. It is not a Hall of Fame. It is not an Art gallery. The museum aims to show the youth of Hawaii the impact they can make on the world through the stories of change makers. There are exhibits covering scientists, astronauts, inventors, and noble prize winners. There are highlights from global entertainers, musicians, actors, dancers, fashion designers, athletes, olympians, political leaders, movement leaders, internet influencers, and entrepreneurs. 

Learning Space

It provides a community learning space that allows people to challenge themselves by expanding their skill set and knowledge base. The museum hosts master classes, book signings, and talk stories, that appeals to those seeking a better understanding of a career or industry.  

World Stage

For tourists and recent transplants, this museum changes prevailing stereotypes about people from Hawai'i. 


Although Hawai'i is a small state, per capita, it has nurtured and raised the most talented people in the country.

Come learn about people from Hawai'i who have inspired the world.
 

work that Inspired

Patsy Mink

Was born in Maui in 1927.  Congresswoman Patsy Takemoto  Mink was the author of Title IX, that opened up educational opportunities for women and girls  throughout the United States in 1972.  Her work in reforming education helped change America. Patsy Mink was the first woman of color elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1964 and she was the first Asian-American to run for U.S. President in 1972.

Artist John Chin Young

John was born in Honolulu in 1909, his parents immigrated from China. He took art classes at McKinley High School. After graduation, he opened his own gallery on Bethel Street in downtown Honolulu. To supplement his income he painted signs for local businesses and sold art supplies to local painters. He quickly became one of Hawaii's best-known artists. His work exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. 

Israel Kamakawio‘ole

Israel was a Native Hawaiian musician and songwriter who's "FACING FUTURE" album was the first from Hawaii to go platinum selling over 1 million CDs in 1993. "OVER THE RAINBOW" was #1 on Billboard and has over 1 billion views on YouTube. 

Young Talent

Evan Nagao

Child prodigy

National  Yo Yo Champion 

2022 & 2023


Punahou 2014

Child prodigy

Child prodigy

At age 4, Evan shows Jay Leno on the Tonight Show how to Yo Yo. 

Matty Hiroto Inaba

16 year-old teen from Waimea, Hawaii is the 2022 Rubik Cube North American Champion.


Hawaii Preparatory  Academy 2025


Jack Rabanal

National Breakdancing Champion 

"B Boy Hi Jack" from Kaimuki.

In Philadelphia, August 26, 2023


Democracy Hall

Barack Obama

Daniel K. Inouye

Barack Obama

President USA

Punahou 1979

Sun Yat Sen

Daniel K. Inouye

Barack Obama

President China 

Iolani 1882

Patsy Mink

Daniel K. Inouye

Daniel K. Inouye

U.S. Representative

 Maui H.S. 1944 

Daniel K. Inouye

Daniel K. Inouye

Daniel K. Inouye

U.S. Senator

 McKinley 1942

EXPLORERS HALL

Ellison Onizuka

Ellison Onizuka

Ellison Onizuka

Space Shuttle Astronaut

Konawaena H.S. 1964

Charles Veach

Ellison Onizuka

Ellison Onizuka

Space Shuttle Astronaut

Punahou 1962

Nainoa Thompson

Ellison Onizuka

Nainoa Thompson

Hōkūléa World Voyage

 Punahou 1972

Military Hall

Samuel Armstrong General

Tammy Duckworth Lt. Colonel

Samuel Armstrong General

Punahou 1859

442 Infantry Regiment

Tammy Duckworth Lt. Colonel

Samuel Armstrong General

World War II

Eric Shinskei General

Tammy Duckworth Lt. Colonel

Tammy Duckworth Lt. Colonel

Kauai H.S. 1960

Tammy Duckworth Lt. Colonel

Tammy Duckworth Lt. Colonel

Tammy Duckworth Lt. Colonel

McKinley 1985

Inclusion Culture

Reverend Abraham Akaka

Reverend Akaka insisted that the Aloha State had moral and spiritual contributions to make to the nation and the world. 

Hawai‘i Leis at Selma

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to the Hawaii State Legislature in 1959.    "As I think of the struggle that we are engaged in in the South land, we look to you for inspiration and as a noble example, where you have already accomplished in the area of racial harmony and racial justice, what we are struggling to accomplish in other sections of the country, and you can never know what it means to those of us caught for the moment in the tragic and often dark midnight of man’s inhumanity to man, to come to a place where we see the glowing daybreak of freedom and dignity and racial justice.”


JFK used Hawai‘i as example

President Kennedy selected the 1963 US Conference of Mayors meeting 

in Honolulu to announce his new Civil Rights Bill for America. The racial harmony found in Hawaii was held as an example that the rest of the country should follow.  


"This island (state) represents all that we are and all that we hope to become." -- President John F. Kennedy, Honolulu, June 1963.

JFK video

Multiethnic and Multiracial

Brook Mahealani Lee, Miss USA and Miss Universe 1977


(Being Miss Universe) "is about being open to a lot of different cultures. I've been to thirteen different countries in a year, and wherever I go, they think I'm that ethnicity. So it's about being able to accept people for whatever they are. In Hawaii, we're like that by nature. I'm Hawaiian, Korean, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, Portuguese. So they all had to 

get along for me to be born!"  -- Brook Mahealani Lee, Miss Universe, on The Oprah Winfrey Show  1998.

Inclusion: Kumu Hina

Inclusion: Kumu Hina

Hinaleimoana Wong


Educator and filmmaker on the history of transgender inclusion in the Native Hawaiian culture. 


Her 2014 award winning documentary KUMU HINA was shown all over the United States and internationally in Berlin, Toronto, Tokyo and Beijing.

Hawai‘I trailblazer

1850

The Hawaiian Kingdom boasted the highest literacy rate in the world. 

1852

The Hawaiian Kingdom outlawed slavery in its constitution. Any slave that arrived in Hawai‘i  would be emancipated.

1867

At the Worlds' Fair in Paris, Hawai‘i was one of 30 countries with an exhibit. The Hawaiian Kingdom was the only Pacific government to be represented at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. 

1881

World Tour of Hawaiian King David Kalākaua.  The 281-day trip gave Kalākaua the distinction of being the first monarch to circumnavigate the globe. He visited the Emperor Meiji in Japan, had an audience in Rome with Pope Leo, was a guest of Britain's Queen Victoria, visited President Chester Arthur at the White House and spent time with Thomas Edison in his laboratory in New Jersey. 

1967

Hawai‘i became the first state in the nation to adopt  the "Percent for Art" law. This visionary legislation sets aside one percent of all state building constructions costs for the acquisition of works of art.  This law gave art in public places and has been followed by other states. 

1970

First state to decriminalize abortion.

1972

First state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment for Women. 

1974

First in the nation to provide near universal health care.

1993

Hawai‘i State Supreme Court was the first judiciary in the world to rule in favor of same-sex marriage. 

2015

First state in the country to require 100% renewable energy. 

MUSEUM History

The City

In 2015, Gloria Borland was serving on the City's Neighborhood Board for Aliamanu, Foster Village, and Salt Lake, when she came up with the idea for a new museum near the Arizona Memorial and Aloha Stadium. Gloria grew up in Hawaii and spent decades in Washington DC, a city smaller than Oahu with over 70 museums. This new Inspiration museum would change Hollywood stereotypes about people from Hawaii.  Residents living in neighborhoods surrounding Aloha Stadium supported the vision for a new museum that would inspire residents and visitors. Grassroots support for the new museum spread throughout Oahu in 2016. The museum was included in the City's Final Plan published in July 2017 for Transit-Oriented Development at the Halawa Rail Station near Aloha Stadium. 

City's Plan

The State

In 2018, the State announced redevelopment plans for Aloha Stadium.  In 2019, the State announced plans for a New Entertainment District to surround Aloha Stadium.  Development plans for Aloha Stadium and the New Entertainment District was delayed in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.    


After waiting  five years for the Aloha Stadium entertainment site, the Inspiration Hawaii Museum decided to search for an alternative location.  In 2023, the museum found an amazing historic 

building in downtown Honolulu. The Inspiration Hawaii Museum is planning to open in early 2025.  Stay tuned for more details.  Subscribe to  our mailing list below.

Economic Impact from Museums

Almost twice as many people visit American museums than attend all major league sporting events and theme parks combined!


  • 67% of all U.S. leisure travelers visit a museum. These travelers spend 60% more on average than other leisure travelers. 


  • The typical museum devotes 75% of its education budget to K-12 students. Museums also receive millions of online visits each year. 


Source: American Alliance of Museums.

Museum Advisors

Paul Kosasa

Paul Kosasa

Paul Kosasa

Paul Kosasa is the President and CEO of ABC Stores a retail chain of  75 stores and 1,900 employees. The first store was founded by his grandparents in Kaimuki in 1917. 


- Chairman Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, 

- Chair Waikiki Business Improvement District, 

- Board, Central Pacific Bank

- Board, Hawaii Community Foundation. 

- Board, Hawaii Food Industry Association

- Japanese American National Museum

Melanie Ide

Paul Kosasa

Paul Kosasa

Former President & CEO of the Bishop Museum. Architect and Museum Designer with 30 years experience developing museums around the world.  Principal at Ralph Appelbaum, the world's largest museum exhibition design firm.


- Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC

- Museum of Natural History, New York

- Clinton Presidential Library

- Obama Presidential Center

-Japanese American National Museum, LA

- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle

- Musee du Quai Branly, Paris

- Los Angeles County Museum of Art

- New York Public Library

Tim Johns

Paul Kosasa

Gloria Borland

Former President & CEO of the Bishop Museum. Current President & CEO Zephyr Insurance. Chief Consumer Officer Hawaii Medical Service Association, Chief Operating Officer  Damon Estate, VP & General Counsel AMFAC.  

Chair Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural Resources.     

                   

 - Board, Hawaiian Electric Company

- Board, Polynesian Voyaging Society

- Board, Kualoa Ranch

- Consuelo Foundation

- Chair, Host Committee IUCN 2016,

- Host Committee, APEC 2011.

- Trustee Parker Ranch Foundation.

Gloria Borland

Lance Keawe Wilhelm

Gloria Borland

Founder & President 

Inspiration Hawaii Museum. 

Founder  www.WeTalkStory.me

Founder  www.GlobalVillageNetwork.LIVE

Founder Charter School with Chinese Immersion in Washington DC. 

Executive Producer -The Business Owners with Gloria Borland  TV series on  PBS nationwide underwritten by THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. 

- Founder & CEO Netless Web Wireless

- Campaign Director Ross Perot for President 

- LEGAL TIMES newspaper for lawyers.

- Founder & CEO National Travel Magazines.

- DC staff  U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye. 


www.GloriaCBorland.com

Lance Keawe Wilhelm

Lance Keawe Wilhelm

Lance Keawe Wilhelm

Founder & CEO Wilhelm Group. 

Former Trustee Chair of  Kamehameha Schools. 

Managing Principal Irongate.

Senior VP Kiewit.

Board Member Hawaii Pacific University. 

Board Member YMCA.

Michael Carroll

Lance Keawe Wilhelm

Lance Keawe Wilhelm

Partner at the Honolulu law firm Lung, Rose, Voss, Wagnild. His practice areas include real estate and construction litigation, complex business and commercial litigation, and land use. 


Former member Manoa Neighborhood Board. 

Pilialoha Lee Loy

Pilialoha Lee Loy

Pilialoha Lee Loy

Former Trustee and Chair of the State of Hawaii Employee Retirement System (public pension fund) currently with a $20 billion portfolio. English teacher at Aliamanu Middle School for 45 years.

- Board of Directors HSTA. 

- Board Hawaii Education Association

Myles Shibata

Pilialoha Lee Loy

Pilialoha Lee Loy

Former Chairman of the Board of the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce 2022-2023. 


- Principal at MSS Consultancy

- Vice President Philanthropic Services at Hawaii Community Foundation 

- President Grove Farm Land Company

- Chief Operating Officer- Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Poipu Bay Gold Course

-  Executive Westin Hotels and Resorts, Oahu/Seattle/Philippines/Maui/Kauai


EVENTS Advisors

Troy Gravatt

Troy Gravatt

Troy Gravatt

Troy is the owner of Your Event Solutions, and will enhance the museum's event planning operations. His clients include Outrigger Hotels, Blake Entertainment, Kapolei Commons, Oahu Country Club, Howard Hughes, Kualoa Ranch, Cirque du Soleil and Central Pacific Bank. 

Andrew Lee

Troy Gravatt

Troy Gravatt

Andrew is an engineer and brings his expertise to organizing the historic building's facilities for the museum's new event business. He is the past president of JCI Hawaii and the Honolulu Chinese Jaycees and on the board of  Chinatown 808. 

Allan Fang

Tanya Yamanaka

Tanya Yamanaka

Allan is the  owner of Small Potato Photography with his studio located in Moiliili. He brings his technical expertise in sound and video to the museum's new event business. Allan is a board member of the Honolulu Chinese Jaycees.

Tanya Yamanaka

Tanya Yamanaka

Tanya Yamanaka

Tanya is the  owner of  Seven Eyes Consulting.  She is with  the Chamber of Sustainable Commerce. 

Communications Advisors

Imiloa Borland

Imiloa Borland

Imiloa is a published writer, public speaker, and movement leader. She has been involved with creating the museum since its inception, collaborating with her mother and giving the youth viewpoint. Imiloa is managing the Hawaiian Fashion Designers exhibit. 


Imiloa was Punahou's Holokū Queen in 2020  and gave the 2024 graduation speech at the New School in New York City. 

Enki Grimsley

Imiloa Borland

Enki grew up in Aiea and has lived in Tokyo and New York City. He graduated from Punahou in 2020 and recently earned a degree in Economics from the New School and studied photography and communications at the Parsons School of Design in New York.


Enki is managing communications with high-profile people featured in our exhibits. He is an advisor for the museum's social media. 


Creative place

Creative place

We are providing a place for young people to develop and strategize their careers.

Our Sponsors

We Are Getting ready

900 Richards Street

Built in 1927,  the old HECO building at 900 Richards Street is near Iolani Palace and the old Post Office.  The Inspiration Hawaii Museum is located on the ground floor lobby. 

Contribute

Please help us finish building our exhibits.

The Inspiration Hawaii Museum, Inc. is a non-profit 501 (3) c. 

Your donation is  tax-deductible.  

Mail check to: Inspiration Hawaii Museum, Inc.

P.O. Box 2693

Honolulu, Hawaii 96803

Phone: 808-312-4111

Donate

The METAVERSE

VIRTUAL GALLERY

Ho‘oulu means"Inspire" in Hawaiian

Explore

OVERSEAS REACH

Virtual Reality Gallery

Obama Gallery

Copyright © 2025 Inspiration Museum - All Rights Reserved.

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