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NHPI Data Policy Lab

Driven to ensure that Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities have a fair share of resources, the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Data Policy Lab employs culturally guided, community-centric practices to provide community partners with data and data skills to achieve their goals.

NHPI Data Policy Lab

For decades, gaps in data and research have hindered the ability of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders to address critical issues such as health, well-being, economic opportunities, and education.

Aloha - Kia Ora - Bula Vinaka - Fakaalofa lahi atu - Håfa Adai - Iakwe - Malo e lelei - Talofa - Kia Iorana 

The Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) Data Policy Lab was founded in August 2020 in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At a time when government and public health systems were overwhelmed and failing NHPI communities, the lab provided community organizations that serve Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders with data demonstrating the severity of COVID-19’s impact on NHPI communities.

Our work wouldn’t be possible without our elders who advocated for decades to ensure our NHPI communities were visible. They understood that data played a key role and that if we don’t exist in the data, we don't exist in the eyes of policymakers. Our NHPI Data Policy Lab honors the work of these elders by centering our community’s perspective and values through data tools, trainings, and advocacy for equitable data policies.

Richard Calvin Chang headshot
Richard Calvin Chang
Director, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) Data Policy Lab

Moving forward from the tragic legacy of institutional trauma and unequal access to health resources that the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, the lab has since expanded its mission. Using rigorously collected data and research in concert with community involvement practices guided by generations of culture and history, the lab has created a unique approach to working collectively with the diverse members of the NHPI communities to improve social drivers of health.

The NHPI Data Policy Lab is grateful for the support of the NHPI community, as well as funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health, Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO), and AAPI Data.

Data Dashboards

Learn more about the NHPI Lab’s data dashboards including COVID-19 dashboards and social determinants of health dashboards that provide national data on demographics, health, economics, education, health, housing, and more.

Visit Data Dashboards

Publications and Media

From a data policy platform to publications in peer-reviewed journals, to features on news outlets like PBS NewsHour, see what the NHPI Data Policy Lab has been working on since its founding in 2020.

Read Publications and Media

As a member of the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community, being part of the NHPI COVID-19 Data Policy Lab has been a blessing and inspiring. We are committed to protecting our families, empowering our community with knowledge and providing actionable data to advocate for the health needs of NHPIs.

Corina Penaia headshot
Corina Penaia, MPH
Community Engagement and Research Director, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Data Policy Lab
Land Acknowledgment

As an organization serving indigenous people from Hawai`i and the islands of the Pacific, we lift up and honor the ancestral connection of the Gabrielino-Tongva people who are the original people and rightful caretakers of this land.

 

Spotlight

NHPI Data profiles and tablet showing an NHPI data dashboard
Blog
New visualization tools provide California county-level data on health among NHPI communities
NHPI woman CAPIWAVES report cover
Publications
Mental Health and Socioeconomic Impact of COVID-19 on California’s Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
Volunteers pack food into paper bags for distribution to Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
Blog
Majority of eligible Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders didn’t receive mental health care, food assistance during pandemic
Honorees holding their awards at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research's 30th anniversary gala. Dr. Efrain Talamantes, Sherry M. Hirota, Sunghee Lee, Shana Charles, Alex Ortega, Jeffrey Reynoso, Sue Holtby, Robert Otto Valdez, Ninez A. Ponce, Dr. Tomás Aragón, Maria-Elena De Trinidad Young, Dr. Linette T. Scott, Susan Demarois, Usha Lee Mcfarling, Louise McCarthy, Delight Satter, and Alex Sripipatana.
Blog
UCLA Center for Health Policy Research celebrates three decades of advancing health equity
Left to right: Calvin Chang, Ninez Ponce, 'Alisi Tulua, Corina Penaia, Karla Thomas, and Brittany Morey.
Blog
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Data Policy Lab honored by Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Ninez Ponce
Blog
Ninez A. Ponce on how to make the new federal demographic data collection standards work as intended
A Child is a Child: Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Children's Health
Publications
A Child is a Child: Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Children's Health
White House
Blog
UCLA Center for Health Policy Research commends revised federal data collection standards
Democratizing Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Data: Examining Community Accessibility of Data for Health and the Social Drivers of Health (American Journal of Public Health)
Publications
Democratizing Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Data: Examining Community Accessibility of Data for Health and the Social Drivers of Health (American Journal of Public Health)
Ninez Ponce standing in front of a banner that says The White House Forum on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders
Blog
Ninez Ponce discusses the importance of data equity at a White House panel
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research responds to proposed revisions to federal race and ethnicity standards
Blog
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research responds to proposed revisions to federal race and ethnicity standards
NHPI Data Policy Lab
Blog
NHPI Data Policy Lab introduces data tools aimed at prioritizing data equity among NHPIs