A New Chapter for Kahiʻolani Foundation
On October 9, 2026, the U.S. Small Business Administration formally approved Kahiʻolani Foundation, a Native Hawaiian Organization (NHO), as a recognized Controlling Entity in the SBA certification system.
This milestone authorizes the Foundation to sponsor and support entity-owned firms applying to the SBA 8(a) Business Development Program, advancing our long-term commitment to Native Hawaiian economic opportunity, cultural preservation, and community benefit.
A Milestone Years in the Making
This approval reflects more than four years of perseverance and dedication toward establishing the Foundation's Native Hawaiian Organization economic-development strategy. Building toward this point required sustained commitment from the Foundation's leadership, who remained focused on the long-term vision even when progress was slow.
The work involved extensive preparation, careful documentation, and persistence through administrative challenges and periods of uncertainty. Reaching this milestone was not a single event, but the result of consistent effort to build an organization ready for this responsibility.
We share this history with gratitude for everyone who contributed along the way, and with respect for the process that produced this outcome.
What This Recognition Means
The Foundation's approval establishes its role in supporting entity-owned firms. It is important to understand both what this recognition provides and what it does not.
What a Controlling Entity Is
An SBA-recognized Controlling Entity is an organization the SBA has recognized as able to sponsor and support entity-owned firms within the 8(a) Business Development Program.
Sponsoring Eligible Firms
The Foundation is authorized to sponsor and support eligible entity-owned firms as they apply to the SBA 8(a) Business Development Program.
Long-Term Economic Opportunity
The program is designed to help eligible firms build durable businesses, create jobs, and strengthen community economic capacity over time.
Individual Certification Still Required
Recognition of the Foundation does not certify any individual firm. Each operating company must independently apply for and receive its own SBA 8(a) certification.
The Foundation's Controlling Entity recognition does not itself constitute an 8(a) certification, and it does not guarantee federal contracts, revenue, or awards. It is not a representation of SBA endorsement of the Foundation's services. Each participating firm must independently receive SBA approval.
Our Hawaiian Responsibility
The Foundation's economic-development objectives exist to serve a larger purpose: the preservation and advancement of Hawaiian culture, language, hula, education, and community well-being. Economic capacity is a means to sustain that work across generations.
This recognition carries kuleana, a responsibility to steward resources carefully and in the right way. We hold ourselves accountable to the communities we serve, to our partners, and to the kūpuna whose footsteps guide our path. Every step forward is measured against its benefit for future generations.
Nā Kapuaʻi o Nā Kūpuna, Nā Ala no Ka Lā ʻApōpō
Looking Forward
This recognition establishes an important foundation for the Foundation's next phase. It does not change our mission, but it expands our capacity to pursue it responsibly.
As we move forward, we remain committed to responsible business development, sound governance, transparent community reinvestment, and the Foundation's long-term cultural mission. We will continue to publish our work and hold ourselves to the same standards of evidence and accountability that guide everything we do.
- Responsible business development aligned to community benefit.
- Sound governance and public accountability.
- Transparent community reinvestment, documented in our Transparency Ledger.
- A long-term commitment to Hawaiian cultural perpetuation.
Learn how the Foundation’s Native Hawaiian Organization economic development model works, how the SBA 8(a) Business Development Program applies to NHO-owned businesses, and which operating companies the Foundation owns.
Native Hawaiian Enterprise & Federal Contracting