The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research’s Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) Data Policy Lab has received a $1 million grant from The California Endowment.

The grant will be distributed over two years and will support the NHPI Data Policy Lab’s Project Māhealani, which will enable the lab to continue its vital work expanding data access and data disaggregation for California’s Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. The grant will also support the lab’s mission of centering feedback and ideas from members of NHPI communities to ensure that the lab’s work aligns with the communities’ needs at every stage of its projects.

The lab has created various data tools and provided training to help NHPI communities, advocates, researchers, and policymakers gain clearer understandings about the health and welfare of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in California.

The lab also produced county-level data profiles that feature NHPI-specific data from multiple sources, including the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), American Community Survey, and U.S. Census. The profiles emphasize data disaggregation, allowing users to compare health data among NHPI subgroups, such as CHamorros, Fijians, Native Hawaiians, Samoans, and Tongans.

In 2024, the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum recognized the lab with its inaugural Narrative Change Award for its work centering the voices of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities.

Launched in August 2020 to address gaps in public health data about the impact of COVID-19 on NHPIs, the NHPI Data Policy Lab not only generates data but makes it freely accessible to the community and policymakers to help correct longtime disparities in health, well-being, economic opportunities, and education.