Hawaiʻi Students Blaze a Trail: First-Ever Global Issues Certificate Awarded
“It’s hard to balance health, sustainability, and economic growth all at once... This challenge showed me how difficult—but necessary—it is for governments and communities to address poverty.”
For the first time in Hawaiʻi history, two high school students have completed the PAAC Global Issues Certificate, a United Nations–certified program recognizing student leadership on today’s most pressing global challenges.
Congratulations to Vivienne Momo Hill of Prisma School and Jayden Tran of Kalani High School—the pioneers of this program and the first to earn this distinction.
What Is the Global Issues Certificate?
Certified by the United Nations CIFAL Honolulu Center at Chaminade University and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), this prestigious certificate recognizes Hawaiʻi students who dedicate themselves to over 100 hours of global learning, service, and leadership.
To earn the certificate, students must:
✔️ Complete SDG lessons from PAAC’s curriculum suite
✔️ Compete in the Academic WorldQuest global knowledge competition
✔️ Design and lead a Global Action Project that addresses a real-world challenge
✔️ Reflect deeply on how governments, businesses, NGOs, and individuals contribute to solving global issues
Beyond recognition, students gain:
Eligibility for a $1,000 travel scholarship
Priority placement in PAAC’s international Study Tours
Experience that strengthens college, scholarship, and career applications
Meet the Trailblazers
🌟 Vivienne Hill – Prisma School
Vivienne’s reflections tackled global issues such as nuclear nonproliferation, gender equality in government, fast fashion, food security in Hawaiʻi, UN climate agreements, teacher shortages, and healthcare equity.
“Designing this (Global Action Project) lesson allowed me to bridge my interests in advocacy and education.”
On gender equality, Vivienne looked to Patsy Mink and Vice President Kamala Harris for inspiration, while also questioning whether quotas for women in politics truly address systemic sexism. Her exploration of Hawaiʻi’s food security crisis called for reducing dependence on imports through regenerative local agriculture.
Her Global Action Project focused on designing a food waste education lesson for PAAC’s SDG suite. The module combined research, discussions, and waste audits to teach students how their personal habits connect to climate change and food sustainability. Her vision is for food waste education to become a standard part of Hawaiʻi schools, sparking long-term systemic change.
Vivienne also competed in the 2025 Academic WorldQuest Competition, where she explored Indigenous Peacebuilding, Borders and Boundaries, and Space and National Security. Her reflection on the militarization of space drew connections to climate action, peacebuilding, and sustainable energy.
Vivienne’s legacy: translating global policy issues into curriculum that empowers Hawaiʻi youth to take action in their schools and communities.
🌟 Jayden Tran – Kalani High School
Jayden’s reflections spanned topics such as poverty and economic growth in Vietnam, food deserts, human trafficking, fast fashion, Japan’s waste systems, and hidden homelessness.
“Although it’s easy to want policies that only help us, governments must balance health, sustainability, and economic growth for everyone.”
In each lesson, he emphasized the interconnectedness of local and global systems and the shared responsibility of governments, NGOs, and citizens in tackling inequality.
For his Global Action Project, Jayden helped relaunch Kalani’s Plastic Recycling Center, which had been abandoned during COVID. He and his peers transformed the space, restarted production, and prototyped recycled plastic products like planting pots for the school’s Environmental Club. His long-term vision is to expand the center into a community hub and inspire similar initiatives across Hawaiʻi schools.
Jayden also represented Kalani in the 2024 Academic WorldQuest Competition, where his team earned 2nd place in their first-ever attempt. His research into Sports and Diplomacy and Navigating AI: The Global Workforce highlighted the promise of AI for agriculture and healthcare—while also cautioning against its misuse in education and ethics.
Jayden’s legacy: showing how student-driven projects can revive community spaces and turn waste into opportunity.
Why It Matters for Hawaiʻi
The Global Issues Certificate doesn’t just prepare students for college—it equips them to tackle Hawaiʻi’s most urgent challenges: food security, climate change, waste reduction, and equity in education and healthcare.
By connecting global lessons to local action, Vivienne and Jayden have proven that Hawaiʻi youth can lead not just in classrooms, but in shaping a sustainable, just future for their communities.
Will You Be Next?
Are you a Hawaiʻi high school student ready to expand your world, develop your leadership, and take action on the issues that matter most?
✨ Learn more about the Global Issues Certificate here
✨ Share your intent to apply here
📧 Contact PAAC at hs@paachawaii.org with any questions
Join PAAC’s community of global changemakers—and be part of the next wave of Hawaiʻi students to make history.
