Bio
Levani Lipton is the director of Ananda Foundation which supports grassroots NGOs working to empower individuals and families through economic development and educational opportunities. She has coordinated grants in fourteen countries supporting community-based initiatives to reduce disparities and improve access to health, education, and economic opportunities. Past projects have included start up grants for cottage industries run by women’s cooperatives, literacy programs, youth sponsorships, supplementary education centers, bridge schools for child laborers and child brides, vocational education in mechanics and sewing/embroidery, a paramedical training program for village health care workers, a feeding center for grannies and orphans, a community farming program and prosthetic limbs and mobility aids for children and land mine survivors made by an NGO that employs people with disabilities to make the prosthetics.
Levani grew up in the communities of Waimānalo and Kailua. A graduate of Iolani School, she holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa where she focused on Health Administration and International Health. She serves as fund advisor for Ananda Fund Hawaii, a DAF of Hawaii Community Foundation that she started with her mother, that supports Hawaii nonprofits.
She has volunteered with Aloha Medical Mission on missions to Luang Prabang, Laos and at AMM clinic (formerly Baynihan clinic) at the Institute for Human Services in Kalihi. Fresh out of grad school, Levani assisted with grants while working for Raks Thai Foundation (Care International Thailand) where she created a survey instrument to measure the impact of NGO outreach and support networks for people living with HIV in four provinces of Northern Thailand.
In 2003, Levani participated in the International Dialogue program with Nobel Prize economist Muhammad Yunus at the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. She holds certificates in Global Affairs and Philanthropy from NYU and is a recipient of the Phyllis Strimling Award from Harvard University for her work promoting the rights of women and children.
In 2011, Levani graduated from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University with a Master of Public Administration degree. When she returned home to Kailua she ran for the State Senate in 2012 for District 25 (Kailua, Waimānalo, Hawaii Kai). While she was not elected, community leaders asked her run for the Kailua Neighborhood Board where she has served since 2013. She currently serves as Vice-Chair and chairs the Addressing Pollution of Kailua’s Waterways and Beaches subcommittee and co-chairs the Addressing Homelessness subcommittee.
