Mohala Eyewear

Mohala Eyewear is the only inclusive eyewear brand with 3 nose bridge fits and every pair sold sends a girl to school at Room to Read. They have donated 120+ years of school to Room to Read Girls’ Education Program. Mohala Eyewear has hosted Hawaii book drives to support Reading is Fundamental a reading non-profit that focuses on book ownership for elementary school children with a focus on those who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch under federal guidelines.

Founder, Ashley Johnson partnered with Maya Soetoro-Ng, of the Obama Foundation and Michelle Obama’s Girls’ Opportunity Alliance, and Dayna Kitamura, a School Counselor, to launch the Mohala Program, a volunteer led girls and non-binary students’ free leadership program at UH Laboratory School. The first program was able to raise the students’ self-confidence rating from an average 5 to an 8 in just 8 weeks’ time.

One student shared: “Before I started (this program), I was never very confident in public speaking or speaking up to ask questions or give an answer, nor did I ever believe I could accomplish things I had dreamed of. (By the end of the program it) showed me that being a woman is a truly powerful thing and you can be just as successful as anyone around you with hard work and an end goal.”

The program leads 9th-12th grade students through topics of their choice including confidence building, relationships, women in STEM, career paths, how to start a business and more.