Crisis Preparation, Capacity Building, and Community Resilience: Lessons From Maui

ABSTRACT The 2023 Maui wildfires provide a unique context to explore the impact of nonprofit crisis networks taking a proactive role in community crisis response, leveraging resources, expertise, and networks. The Hawaiʻi Community Foundation (HCF) has been a key player in Maui's local response, providing critical support, mobilizing volunteers, and convening diverse stakeholders to coordinate support and mobilize collective action throughout the wildfire crisis. This study uses complex adaptive systems theory and draws on evidence from Maui and the nonprofit crisis network response as a case study to explore the importance of capacity building for crisis preparation and offers key lessons for research and practice on effective strategies for building robust capacities at the individual, organizational, and community levels. Findings underscore the importance of proactive planning in various capacities, collaboration among diverse stakeholders, and integration of indigenous knowledge systems to cultivate resilient communities.