ABOUT
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A small practice
for complicated
questions.
Kohala Data Group works at the intersection of data, people, and place — helping people understand complex systems and explore what might be possible within them.
ROOTED IN KOHALA
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Kohala Data Group in an independent practice
led by Matt Stevens, based in North Kohala, Hawaiʻi.
I work with mission-driven organizations, government, funders, and community partners to make sense of complex systems and explore what might be possible within them.
My work blends data storytelling, strategy, facilitation, and applied AI with a deep commitment to people, community, and place.
Data, place,
and what’s possible.
WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE
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Research + Analysis
Turning data into insights
Strategy + Facilitation
Helping people navigate
complexity together
Systems + Innovation
Exploring what’s possible,
not just what’s familiar
Ideas + Experiments
A home for ongoing projects,
writing, and creative work
ABOUT MATT
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Kohala Data Group is led by Matt Stevens, a data strategist, systems thinker, and nonprofit executive whose work has spent more than 20 years at the intersection of data, technology, and public purpose.
Matt’s career has taken him from the U.S. Census Bureau to leadership roles with Benefits Data Trust, Brighthive, and ReUp Education, working across government, philanthropy, higher education, workforce development, and the nonprofit sector.
Since 2022, Matt has served as Executive Director of the Hawaiʻi Workforce Funders Collaborative, where he works across philanthropy, government, education, business, and community to strengthen Hawaiʻi’s workforce ecosystem. He co-convenes the Learn Work Thrive Hui, a statewide cross-sector coalition advancing Hawaiʻi’s Generational Workforce Commitment, and his work includes the development of Workforce Understory, an emerging approach to workforce intelligence designed to help leaders see the system more clearly, learn from what is happening, and make better collective decisions.
In 2026, Matt was recognized as a Workforce Hero by the Workforce Development Council, Hawaiʻi Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, and Chamber of Commerce Hawaiʻi.
Across these settings, a consistent question has shaped Matt’s work: how can we use evidence not simply to understand complex systems, but to change them?
Matt’s approach to leadership draws from mindfulness, collective improvisation, music, and endurance sport — practices that have shaped how he thinks about uncertainty, attention, adaptation, collaboration, and emergence. He has brought these ideas into his professional practice as well, including through his 2024 fellowship with the Hawaiʻi Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations and subsequent work facilitating mindful leadership with nonprofit leaders.
Across these different forms of practice is a shared discipline: knowing enough to act while remaining curious enough to be surprised.
Beyond his professional work, Matt serves on the board of Donkey Mill Art Center and as an advisor to the Kohala Coast Community Fund. An endurance athlete and longtime triathlete, he was the overall winner of the 2026 Lavaman Duathlon.
He lives and works in Kapaʻau, Hawaiʻi.
THE THROUGHLINE
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Evidence helps us understand
what’s already here.
Curiosity helps us
imagine what’s next.
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