Our Community
Giveback
Our Tactical and Strategic Plans for Self-Reliance, Wellbeing, and the Restoration of our Native Hawaiian Identity in our hometowns across the State of Hawaii, starting in Kaʻū the Big Island of Hawaii
Built for the people of Kaʻū. Powered by the SBA Entity-owned 8(a) program as Congress intended — a proven engine of economic self-determination, not as a DEI program.
Our Framework
Our Giveback Triangle
Three interlocking commitments. Each one strengthens the others. Economic Independence is the foundation — without it, the other two remain aspirations.
The NHO 8(a) program was not created for $100M sole source contracts. It was created as a corrective — a direct response to over a century of US Federal Government policy that systematically stripped us from our Native Hawaiian economic livelihood (our Island home and Ahupuaʻa system), suppressed our native language, and dismantled our identity, culture and self-worth. Congress did not give NHOs access to the SBA 8(a) program out of generosity. They gave it to us because the US federal government deliberately stripped us of our wellbeing and ability to be self-sufficient. We had enough of relying on US taxpayer-funded subsidies and nonprofit handouts.
Every dollar earned by our NHOs growing portfolio of 8(a) subsidiaries flows directly to Mālama Kaʻū Foundation — and directly from there to the people of Kaʻū. No outrageous NHO Board of Directer salaries. No mainland holding company or investors taking a cut. No unnecessary pass-through fees paid to 3rd party nonprofits or Community Service Organizations diluting more 8(a) generated profits before reaching a single Native Hawaiian family all NHOs are required to support. Our 8(a) generated profits stay in Hawaii. To ensure our Kupunas have the same level of access to life-saving medical care, like dialysis, as their mainland counterparts. To revitalize our Native Hawaiian identity so our next generation know where they came from. And to create jobs, in the State of Hawaii, so our keikis are able to live, work and play on the same land as their ancestors.That is the promise. That is our commitment.
Measuring What Matters - Outcomes not Activities
Three Outcomes measured by Three Leading Metrics.
Leading metrics tell us where we are going before we arrive. Each metric below is observable, reportable, and meaningful to the community of Kaʻū.
Kaʻū has among the highest rates of end-stage renal disease in the state, driven by a Western diet, access to life-saving medical care, and decades of economic marginalization. Healing our bodies is inseparable from healing our ʻāina.
- Dialysis Access Rate % of Kaʻū residents requiring dialysis who receive it within 30 miles. Baseline today: near zero. Target Year 5: 100%.
- Mental Health Support Number of community members receiving counseling, crisis support, or peer wellness services annually.
- Tailored Nutrition for Native Hawaiians Pounds of locally grown produce distributed per quarter through Foundation-supported gardens and kūpuna meal programs.
The 1896 cultural and language ban stripped identity from our people. Music is the bridge back. Field lights on the Pāhala community park are the signal that this community matters and is not forgotten.
- Hawaiian Language Learners Number of Kaʻū youth enrolled in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi instruction annually. Target: 50 by Year 3, 200 by Year 7.
- Cultural Events & Attendance Number of Foundation-sponsored hula, music, and cultural gatherings per year and total community attendance.
- Community Infrastructure Investment Dollar value of community facility improvements in Kaʻū funded and completed — community field lights, performance and cultural spaces.
Action speaks louder than words. The Malama Kaʻū Foundation is invested in our community because we grew up there. This is not an NHO giveback compliance checklist requirement, we are supporting the community that raised us. We deliberately structured our NHO as a 501(c)3 nonprofit for full transparency. Our NHO federal tax returns are made public so US taxpayers can decide for themselves if their well-earned tax dollars are making a change in the Native Hawaiian communities that we serve.
- Annual NHO Giveback Flow Total dollars transferred directly from our 8(a) subsidiary net income to our NHO Foundation and directly to the Kaʻū community annually.
- Native Hawaiian Employment Number of Native Hawaiians employed by our NHO-owned 8(a) companies at living wage or above.
- Financial Sovereignty Index A measure of how much of Kaʻū's future is being funded by Kaʻū itself, and not through government subsidies or nonprofit handouts. As this index number grows, the people of Kaʻū move one step further from dependence and one step closer to deciding their own future on their own terms. That is what financial sovereignty looks like in practice. That is what we are building.
Near-Term Plan
Years 1–3: Establish the Foundation
Conservative. Credible. Mission-first. One 8(a) company per vertical, one JV per vertical, and every dollar of giveback flows directly to the three measurable outcomes — no dilution, no detours.
- Commission dialysis clinic feasibility study
- Identify land and facility partnership in Pāhala
- Fund 2 community mental health workshops
- Launch kūpuna meal program — 25 families
- Fund field lights at Pāhala community park
- Sponsor first annual Kaʻū music gathering
- Partner with Hawaiian language program
- Begin Voices of Kaʻū video archive series
- Establish direct giveback transfer policy
- Achieve $500K+ in 8(a) contract revenue
- Hire 3 Native Hawaiians at living wage
- Publish first NHO Giveback Series issue
- Dialysis clinic: begin regulatory filing & design
- Mobile health screening — 2 events/quarter
- Mental health peer counselor training
- Expand kūpuna meal program to 60 families
- Launch ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi instruction — 50 youth
- Commission original mele honoring Kaʻū lineage
- Build community hale for cultural gatherings
- First Kaʻū youth cultural delegation to Oʻahu
- Achieve $1.5M–$2M combined contract revenue
- Hire 8–10 Native Hawaiians across subsidiaries
- File first annual NHO Giveback Report to SBA
- Publish monthly newsletter — 6 issues completed
- Break ground on dialysis clinic in Pāhala
- Secure clinical partnership — Queens Medical, HMSA
- Mental health program: 100+ touchpoints/yr
- Community garden producing 500+ lbs/quarter
- 100 youth in language and cultural programs
- Annual Kaʻū Cultural Festival — regional reach
- Youth ensemble performs statewide
- Voices of Kaʻū documentary series released
- 20+ Native Hawaiians employed, living wage+
- Giveback flow funding all 3 outcome pillars
- Publish 36-month impact report — public & Congressional
- Begin 5-year strategic expansion planning
Strategic Vision
Years 4–10: Scale What Works
By Year 4 the model is proven. The clinic exists. The giveback is real and flowing directly to Kaʻū. Now we scale — more companies, more giveback, more self-determination.
- Dialysis clinic fully operational — Year 4
- 20+ Kaʻū patients receiving local dialysis
- Telehealth expansion to remote ahupuaʻa
- 2 licensed mental health counselors on staff
- 3 community gardens active
- 200 youth in language and cultural programs
- Kaʻū Cultural Center — permanent facility
- Next-generation leadership formalized
- Annual giveback gala — public accountability
- Native Hawaiian cultural ambassadorship launched
- 50+ Native Hawaiians employed across portfolio
- First Kaʻū resident in professional corporate role
- Quantheon SDVOSB revenue contributing
- NHO Giveback Series — 500+ subscribers
- Congressional testimony on NHO model impact
- Dialysis clinic endowed — operational in perpetuity
- Expanded clinic: dental, behavioral health, nutrition
- Native Hawaiian health research partnership — UH
- Zero preventable dialysis deaths from lack of access
- ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi spoken in Pāhala homes again
- Kaʻū youth performing nationally as ambassadors
- Lineage documentation for every family who wants it
- Permanent archive — Voices of Kaʻū
- 100+ Native Hawaiians in quality stable employment
- Foundation financially independent — endowment funded
- Model replicated by other NHOs nationwide
- The promise to Dad: fully, visibly, permanently kept
1 company → 3 companies + 2 JVs. NIWC Pacific adjacency, DoD cyber, federal IT modernization.
Yr 1: ~$500K · Yr 5: ~$6M · Yr 10: ~$20MJVM Construction as anchor. DoD facilities, Pacific bases, Hawaiian homeland infrastructure.
Yr 1: ~$300K · Yr 5: ~$4M · Yr 10: ~$15MDefense logistics, precision components, Quantheon semiconductor tech adjacency.
Yr 3: ~$500K · Yr 5: ~$3M · Yr 10: ~$12M