100%
Good use of your day?
All 175 respondents across 13 workshops answered yes. Not a single “no” in the entire program.
Events 2025 Impact Report
2025 Impact Report
How Hawaii learned to work with AI.
A year of hands-on AI workshops across Maui, Kauai, and beyond. 13 sessions. 175 participants. One consistent result: people left ready to use AI in real work.
- 13
- Workshops DeliveredAcross Maui, Kauai & Oahu
- 175
- Participants SurveyedFrom non-profits, education, business
- 100%
- “Good Use of My Day”Unanimous across every workshop
- 98%
- Would RecommendTo a colleague or friend
The Numbers
Near-unanimous positive feedback, workshop after workshop.
Across every single session we ran in the past year, the satisfaction rate never dipped. Participants consistently told us the workshops were worth their time, worth the price, and worth recommending to others.
98%
Would you recommend it?
Participants said they would recommend the workshop to colleagues and friends. Net Promoter territory.
86%
Worth the price?
When asked directly in the 9/4 workshop, 86% said yes, with additional respondents noting the content itself was valuable.
The Sessions
13 workshops. 175 people.
Island-hopping AI education.
From small-group SR Partners intensives to weekend workshops for non-profits, from a middle school hands-on session to grant-writing focused trainings, the range of audiences tells the story of how broad the demand has been.
Mar 2, 2025SR Partners
SR · AI Proposal Writing Workshop
Two-day intensive
5
Mar 26, 2025Non-profit leaders
AI Proposal Writing Workshop for Non-Profits
Saturday all-day
20
Mar 29, 2025Non-profit leaders
AI Proposal Writing Workshop for Non-Profits
Saturday session
9
May 17, 2025Non-profit leaders
AI Proposal Writing Workshop for Non-Profits
Saturday session
22
Jun 25, 2025Leeward Community College
AI Proposal Writing Workshop for Non-Profits
LCC session
17
Aug 6, 2025Kauai non-profits
AI Proposal Writing Workshop — Kauai
Island workshop
16
Aug 9, 2025Mixed audience
AI Proposal Writing Workshop
Summer session
9
Aug 11, 2025Mixed audience
AI Proposal Writing Workshop
Summer session
7
Aug 22, 2025Mixed audience
AI Proposal Writing Workshop
Summer session
12
Sep 4, 2025General professional
AI Workshop Survey
Full-day hands-on
21
Sep 15, 2025Mixed audience
AI Proposal Writing Workshop
Full-day intensive
25
Oct 27, 2025Middle schoolers (HTA)
HTA AI Workshop
Hands-on for students
9
In Their Words
“The best workshop
I’ve ever experienced.”
Verbatim responses from participants across the series. No cherry-picking; these are representative of the tone and enthusiasm we saw in almost every response.
Actually creating a custom GPT. I also appreciated learning the foundation of GPTs (definitions, physical structure, tokens, etc.). Really this was the best workshop I’ve ever experienced!
The entire session was amazing. The deep dive into the custom GPTs and all the new stuff (deep research, thinking models) just blew our minds. We are shockingly feeling energetic about our long task list.
I have learned so much!! ChatGPT is LIFE!!
That using AI is not hard. And that sometimes you just need a friendly, knowledgeable person to get you started.
I’m grateful for the day and your kind and clear instruction. You are knowledgeable, articulate and approachable. Big Mahalo!
Ali was great, engaging, knowledgeable, and very patient. Mahalo for the snacks, coffee, drinks, and lunch. I’ve learned so much and can’t wait to use chat gpt more.
Deep research option… blew my mind.
AI is not the enemy — it is a tool to be used with wisdom. Use ChatGPT to guide you to get better, improved results.
Keep updating the workshop to fit changes in AI. I’d want to take one per year to stay current. Love the hands on activities so we can try applying knowledge and things we learn right away.
Top Takeaways
What participants took home.
When asked “what was the most valuable takeaway,” a handful of themes came up over and over again. These are the patterns that tell us the curriculum is hitting the right notes.
Custom GPTs
Far and away the most-cited takeaway. Participants were consistently energized by building their own GPTs tailored to their specific work, from grant writing to program development.
Mentioned 40+ timesDeep Research
Many participants discovered ChatGPT’s Deep Research capability for the first time. Multiple responses called it “mind-blowing” and described it as the tool that will most change their workflow.
“Blew my mind”Hands-On Building
The hands-on structure was singled out repeatedly. Participants valued time actually working with the tools over lecture-style content, and most asked for even more hands-on time.
Top ask: “more hands-on”Prompting & Framing
How to talk to AI — writing clear prompts, giving context, iterating. Participants walked away understanding that output quality depends on the quality of their inputs.
Foundational shiftPrivacy & Trust
Learning how to turn off data training, when to trust outputs, and the reminder that AI output still needs human review. Particularly resonated with non-profit professionals.
“Made me less skeptical”Time Savings
Participants articulated a shift in how they see AI: from novelty to a tool that frees up time for higher-value work like relationship-building, outreach, and strategy.
Work transformation98%
of participants would recommend the workshop
“This was a AWESOME workshop. Thank you so much!!! I can see myself using all your tips and expertise in my day to day duties. Mahalo Nui!”
What We’re Improving
The workshops will get even better.
We asked participants what we could improve. The feedback was consistent across sessions and is already shaping the next iteration of the curriculum.
More hands-on
“More hands-on activities broken down into smaller components” — the top repeated request. Shortening intro content in favor of more build time.
Skill-level tracking
“Separate workshops for beginners and experienced users.” Multiple participants at both ends of the spectrum asked for level-specific content.
Handouts & references
“A handout or glossary of components would help.” A post-workshop reference card is in development.
Multi-session series
“Offer these as a series so folks can build skills.” The 2026 plan includes a multi-session track for deeper engagement.
Follow-up 1:1s
“Follow-up sessions with the instructor as we get more practice.” A light-touch office hours program is being piloted.
Pre-work prep
“Remind us to bring program docs or grant opportunities to work on.” New pre-workshop checklist being added to registration.