Our Enterprises
The Program
The HIR Accelerator program helps social enterprises improve and scale their impact and business models and assists them in accessing resources to implement their next level of growth. The program utilizes its unique regional toolkit of training and coaching that provides a fully integrative capacity building experience.
Upon completion of the HIR program, participants will have a deeper understanding of their operations, strategies, and impact. This gained perspective will enable more efficient and effective use of resources and better prepare their enterprise for future investment and funding.
HIR understands that the process of growth and development extends beyond the completion of our accelerator program so we continue to support our enterprises with mentorship and support on their impact journeys.
Our Enterprises
- All
- Basic Needs
- Empowerment
- Culture & Diversity
- Natural Capital
- Peace Justice & Strong Institutions
- Nonprofit
- For-profit
- Cohort 1
- Cohort 2
- Cohort 3
- Cohort 4
- Food Cohort 5
- Food Cohort 6
Sustʻāinable Molokai
Sustʻāinable Molokai is a non-profit community development organization committed to restoring ʻāina momona (thriving people and abundant land) to Moloka’i by uniting traditional practices with responsible, modern sustainability solutions.
GoFarm Hawaiʻi
GoFarm Hawai’i’s mission is to enhance Hawai’i’s food security and economy by increasing the number of sustainable, local agricultural producers. We do this by offering those with an interest in agriculture a combination of knowledge, experience, and support to reach their full potential.
Hawaiʻi Foodbank, Inc.
For 40 years, Hawai’i Food Bank has been synonymous with getting food in the hands of those in need. They believe that consistent access to safe and healthy food is a fundamental human right and are working to broaden their reach by building capacity, strengthening support to partner networks, pursuing advocacy and outreach, and purchasing more food. The food bank now serves about 50% more people than before the pandemic, and works with 200 partner distribution agencies.
Hawaii Rangeland Stewardship Foundation
The Hawaii Rangeland Stewardship Foundation (HRSF) is committed to enhancing sound rangeland stewardship practices through the support of programs that bring together science, technology, and expertise. With 20% of Hawai’i’s lands in rangeland, ranchers, resource managers, and sound stewardship practices have a positive impact on practices that honor the past, present, and future of Hawai’i’s lands.
Hawaiʻi Land Trust
Hawai’i Land Trust (HILT) is committed to properly stewarding our protected land. HILT’s stewardship approach rests on the three pillars of aloha ʻāina, moʻokūauhau, and mālama ʻāina. Each of these principles reinforce one another in ways that create deeper connections to the land, while restoring the structure, function and composition of the ecosystems we seek to heal. Ultimately, their goal lies in building pilina, while improving biodiversity, productivity and resilience of the land.
ʻĀina Ho'okupu o Kīlauea
ʻĀina Hoʻokupu O Kīlauea’s goal is to facilitate solutions to economic, social, and agricultural/food security challenges that the greater Kīlauea community faces. The Kīlauea Community Agricultural Center works to contribute to island food security and to a healthy, stable, balanced local agricultural economy.
Agribusiness Development Corporation
The Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC) was formed in 1994 to facilitate and provide direction for the transition of Hawai’i’s agriculture industry from a dominance of sugar and pineapple to one composed of a diversity of different crops. ADC’s mission is to provide leadership and advocacy for the conversion of agribusiness into a dynamic growth industry through the use of financial and other tools enabled by the founding legislation for the pursuit of specific projects to achieve the legislative objectives.
Kohala Food Hub
Kohala Food Hub grows Hawai’i’s food system by providing essential services for farmers and food businesses and increasing community access to fresh local food. They connect local residents and businesses as well as visitors to the island to fresh, nutrient-dense, locally grown and made food with an online market, multi-farm CSA, partner food programs, free community food distributions, ‘ulu aggregation for Hawai’i ‘Ulu Cooperative, and wholesale accounts for local resorts and restaurants.
Supersistence
“In contrast to subsistence, to supersist is to live very well, to thrive or to flourish.” For more than a decade, Supersistence has worked with individuals, communities, organizations, and networks to address issues in environmental quality, social equity, food and economic security, and urbanization. Through education, facilitation, and design, Hunter Heaivilin works to navigate social and ecological systems towards the development of sustainable human habitats.
Mokuwai Piko Poi Inc
Mokuwai Piko Poi is a 2nd generation food business located in Waipio Valley, Hawaii Island. Started in 1997, the business began as a backyard poi production and later expanded to become one of the first certified kitchens on the Hamakua coast. The certification enabled their poi products to be in grocery stores and restaurants.
Molokai Heritage Trust
Molokai Heritage Trust is a community-based non-profit that was formed to acquire and provide oversight for management of Moloka’i Ranch lands. This community-owned entity is dedicated to acquiring, governing, and stewarding this land back effort.
Polipoli Farms
Polipoli Farms believes that to grow for the future, we must learn from the past. By approaching farming from a native perspective, they strive to not only nourish our community, but also foster a cultural connection that feeds people’s naʻau (heart). Polipoli grows polynesian plants in food forests in the same Waiehu, Maui ʻāina that fed generations of Native Hawaiians.
The Food Basket Inc.
Hawai’i Food Basket’s mission is to end hunger in Hawai’i County and create a model for food security and sustainability through the leadership of a trusted and stable agency distributing the safest and highest quality food. The Food Basket supports local farmers who supply programs to improve the health of low-income Kupuna and help SNAP-EBT cardholders buy more produce.
Farm Link Hawaiʻi
Farm Link Hawai‘i’s mission is to build a thriving, equitable food system in Hawai‘i by empowering local farmers and improving access to local foods. FLH connects local growers and buyers via its innovative online marketplace and supply-chain infrastructure.
Feed The Hunger Fund
Feed The Hunger Fund is a certified Community Development Finance Institution enabling local small business owners in Hawaii & California to access loan capital and business development services. They work hand-in-hand with funders and borrowers to create a world where access to opportunity and capital feed greater food equity, security and sustainability.
Hawaiʻi Food Hub Hui
Hawaii Food Hub Hui is a collaboration of 14 hub leaders connecting a diverse group of producers and consumers by aggregating and distributing produce and other locally-grown foods. The Hui’s 14 members expand customers’ access to local food and provide new markets and increased revenue generation for 1,050+ small and medium farms across the islands.
Hawaiʻi Good Food Alliance
The Hawaii Good Food Alliance is a diverse hui of community leaders who share in the production, aggregation and distribution of food to re-build thriving community food systems. They believe that each and every person in Hawaii can share in healthy, locally produced food.
HuiMAU
Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili (huiMAU) is a 501(c)(3) community-based hui committed to re-establishing the systems that sustain our community by cultivating kīpuka (safe, regenerative spaces) that foster and regenerate the growth of place-based ancestral knowledge, healthy food- and eco- systems, and strong ‘ohana with the capacity to live and thrive in Hāmākua for generations.
Iwikua
501(c)(3) Iwikua serves as an educational and cultural resource for sustainable food production, wellness, and community enhancement to benefit west Kauaʻi and future generations. They strive to develop Kamaʻāina by empowering culturally centered life-long learners to fulfill active roles in the community as teachers, leaders, and farmers.
Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation
The Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that supports environmental education in the schools and communities of Hawaiʻi. Their mission is to provide students with experiences that will enhance their appreciation for and understanding of their environment so they will be lifelong stewards of the earth.
Miko Foods
Family business Miko Meats long dreamed of developing a food community space to support local agrifood businesses. The Miko Meat Plant now provides a space for food entrepreneurs to grow their enterprises. The original 20,000 sq ft USDA certified facility has been designed to be leased separately for companies with different production needs. Miko Foods will be developing and iterating this hub model to support our food system.
Pacific Gateway Center
Pacific Gateway Center (PGC) empowers low-income residents, immigrants, refugees, and other vulnerable populations to achieve self-sufficiency through skill-building and access to opportunities while respecting cultural heritage. PGC’s holistic view of service and program portfolio meets clients where they are at, with wraparound language and legal services for established entrepreneurs, and incubator services for immigrants seeking gainful employment.
Piko Provisions
Piko Provisions produces all-natural, 100% Hawaii-grown and made baby food. They aim to build a stronger, more sustainable agricultural industry in our islands by sourcing from and fairly compensating regenerative local farmers and producers. They partner with Hawaii-based businesses, organizations and advocates help revive our food industry, and support communities.
ʻAha Kāne
ʻAha Kāne nurtures a healthier Native Hawaiian male population by eliminating psychosocial, health, and educational disparities through activities founded on traditional cultural practices that build sustainability in the community. ‘Aha Kāne seeks to help kāne become better fathers, husbands, sons, and community members who are grounded in their culture.
ʻEkolu Mea Nui
‘Ekolu Mea Nui’s mission is to transform Hawai‘i’s criminal justice system through Native Hawaiian cultural practices and values. They envision a pono justice system that heals and empowers individuals, ‘ohana, and communities. Their goal is to innovate alternatives to incarceration, restore the human spirit, build resilient ‘ohana, and change laws and policies.
Family Promise
FPH’s mission is to help homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence by mobilizing existing community resources and support. They address family homelessness holistically, providing prevention services before families reach crisis, shelter and case management when they become homeless, and stabilization programs once they have secured housing to ensure they remain independent.
Hawaiian Community Assets
Hawaiian Community Assets is a HUD-approved housing counseling agency and community lending institution that builds the capacity of low- and moderate-income communities to achieve and sustain economic self-sufficiency with a particular focus on Native Hawaiians. HCA implements a unique, holistic approach to helping families achieve and sustain permanent housing.
Hawaiʻi People’s Fund
Hawaiʻi Peopleʻs Fund helps support, build capacity, and amplify the impact of grassroots social change movements. They are dedicated to the most creative, passionate, and radical visions of community, bravely navigating the intersections of indigeneity, environment, race, class, labor, gender, art, technology, mental health, incarceration, food, and other crucial issues we face.
Hawai‘i ‘Ulu Cooperative
Hawai‘i ‘Ulu Cooperative is a network of small-scale, diversified farms on Hawai‘i Island that grow breadfruit and want to improve community access to this food. The co-op is committed to strengthening Hawai‘i’s food security using environmentally responsible growing and production methods. Their ‘ulu products are local, healthy, accessible, and sustainable.
Kalona Brand Company
Kalona Brand seeks to revitalize agriculture in Hawaii by developing sustainable farm operations and food systems. We strive for sustainable food systems that provide long term financial viability, actively engage and strengthen communities, steward the aina with environmentally sound land use practices, and competitiveness in a global economy.
Kaunamano Farm
Kaunamano Farm was founded on the belief that eating local products is good for Hawai‘i, good for the community, and good for a better, more sustainable future. They hope to increase the value of homestead agriculture and to create a place-based system that will allow someone to use their family’s land to make a living they can be proud of.
Mālama Loko Ea
Loko ea creates educational programs for local students and works to assist the broader community to reconnect to their cultural identity through the ʻāina. Hawaiian Fishponds were built to be living refrigerators and MLEF’s long-term objective is to return Lokoea to a fully functioning loko i‘a (fishpond) while preserving its integrity as a historic property.
Nui Kealoha
Robert Domingo’s Nui Kealoha catering company offers a recipe of respect for the cultural and spiritual significance of Hawaiian food combined with a keen sense of modern style. He believes good cooking begins with ALOHA and utilizes ingredients that are pono for the ‘āina and for kānaka.
Pāhiki Eco-Caskets
Pāhiki found a lack of continuity between an eco-conscious lifestyle and sustainable burial options. They are committed to helping humans leave an eco-legacy: the lightest possible environmental touch in death via biodegradable caskets. Pāhiki exclusively uses responsibly sourced, 100% salvaged Hawaiian wood from local arborists.
Touch A Heart
Touch A Heart’s mission is to transform the lives of those facing barriers to employment by providing vocational training in a healing and nurturing environment, creating pathways to job placement. 90% of graduates of their food services training and apprenticeship program have been successfully placed in the workforce.
Ulu Aʻe Learning Center
Ulu A‘e was formed with the vision to have an entire community knowledgeable about its history, culture and language. Their mission is to empower and enrich lives through programs that develop skills, build confidence and promote healthy relationships based on Hawaiian values and customs.
ACCESS Capabilities
ACCESS Capabilities provides quality and affordable services for individuals and families affected by substance abuse and interpersonal violence using proven cognitive-behavioral and humanistic approaches to assist individuals in making changes to maladaptive behaviors.
Ala Kukui
Ala Kukui is founded on a community-based model. Retreats support year-round cultural programs, workshops and events for the local community. In turn, retreat participants engage with the community and learn traditional and cultural practices. Honoring Hawaiian principles and values, the Hāna community plays a foundational role in policies, stewardship and operations.
Edu Inc.
Education Incubator believes that the youth in our communities create solutions to the greatest challenges we face. EI offers programming to create access and opportunity for youth in Hawaiʻi and beyond to create change. EI supports public, private, charter, and informal learning organizations to design and implement place-based solution-oriented initiatives.
Holokino Hawaiʻi
Holokino Hawaii is a locally owned and operated Hawaiian canoe sailing tour: Environmentally Minded – Culturally Grounded. They are committed to our island’s natural resources and culture and have been certified as a Sustainable Tour Operator by the Hawai‘i Ecotourism Association.
HVN Apparel
HVN Apparel is on a mission to prove that comfort, good design and sustainability don’t have to be mutually exclusive. They are dedicated to “Protecting where we Play” by removing one pound of trash from Hawaii’s shores for every shirt sold. Making better shirts with added social impact.
ʻImiloa
‘Imiloa’s mission is to honor Maunakea by sharing Hawaiian culture and science to inspire exploration.‘Imiloa is a place of life‐long learning where the power of Hawai‘i’s cultural traditions, its legacy of exploration, and the wonders of astronomy come together to provide inspiration and hope for generations.
Kānehūnāmoku
Kānehūnāmoku Voyaging Academy’s mission is to perpetuate the knowledge of traditional Hawaiian navigation and to provide opportunities to Native Hawaiian students to advance in contemporary ocean-based careers through academic, college, and career support. Their double hull sailing canoe is a hands-on, dynamic, and living classroom for all ages.
‘Iole
‘Iole aims to inspire sustainable thinking through a model 21st century ahupua`a where land is chief and man is steward. Their mission is to protect and preserve the natural landscape and cultural assets of `Iole by inspiring collaboration, leadership, and mindset shifts through a deep connection with the land, place-based education, and a pu‘uhonua retreat.
Laukahi
Laukahi is working to protect Hawai‘i’s rare plant species through coordinated, statewide conservation efforts by implementing the Hawai‘i Strategy for Plant Conservation. Laukahi, meaning “single leaf” in the Hawaiian language, develops and shares tools to conserve Hawaiian plants.
Mālama Kauaʻi
Mālama Kaua’i focuses on advocating, educating, and driving action towards a sustainable Kaua’i. They aim to increase local food consumption and production, as well as build community capacity and grow interest in sustainable tourism. Malama Kaua’i considers the need for a holistic approach, with a focus on three primary areas: ʻĀina, Community, Culture.
Plant Extinction Prevention
The Plant Extinction Prevention (PEP) Program’s mission is to protect Hawaiʻi’s rarest native plants from extinction. It is committed to reversing the trend toward extinction by managing wild plants, collecting seeds, and establishing new populations. PEP focuses on species with fewer than 50 plants remaining in the wild.
Sustʻāinable Molokai
Sustʻāinable Molokai’s mission is to restore ʻĀina Momona, a thriving people and abundant land, to Molokai. Sustainable living and renewing our connection to nature can restore the pono (balance) of the land and sea. In that spirit, they remain committed to each other as a community and seek pathways to sust `āinability.
Awaialulu
Awaiaulu is dedicated to developing resources and resource people that can bridge Hawaiian knowledge from the past to the present and the future. They make Historical resources accessible to build the knowledge base of both Hawaiian and English-speaking audiences, and train young scholars to understand and interpret those resources for modern audiences.
Hawaiʻi Food Basket
Hawaiʻi Food Basket’s mission is to end hunger in Hawai`i County and create a model for food security and sustainability through the leadership of a trusted and stable agency distributing the safest and highest quality food. The Food Basket supports local farmers who supply programs to improve the health of low-income Kupuna and help SNAP-EBT cardholders buy more produce.
Hoʻokuaʻāina
Hoʻokuaʻāina mentors O`ahu youth in the ways of Hawaiian kupuna, keeping traditional values alive and restoring the ‘āina. Youth are empowered through the cultivation of kalo and values-based coaching, developing life strategies and skills to build healthy communities. The lo’i is an ideal environment for ʻāina-based education as well as a productive farm enterprise.
Kakoʻo ʻŌiwi
Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi is a long-range project to restore agricultural and ecological productivity to nearly 405-acres within the wetlands of Heʻeia. Through cultural, educational and ecosystem restoration programs, Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi promotes the social and economic advancement of the local community.
Kamaʻaha Education Initiative
Kamaʻaha is committed to advancing academic success for Native Hawaiians with programs and systems that are grounded in past and present knowledge. To ensure the continued resilience of innovative and vibrant Native Hawaiian leaders and communities. To advance Native Hawaiian educational, financial, social and political interests for sustained success and active participation in the global community.
Kealopiko
Kealopiko was founded with a vision to break the traditional mold of how Hawaiʻi has been portrayed. What is truly and uniquely Hawaiian deserves to be the focus of designs transferred to clothing: our plants and animals, our language and practices, our aliʻi (royalty) and kūpuna (elders and ancestors), and our moʻolelo (stories and history) as the people of Hawaiʻi.
Ho’oulu ‘Āina
Ho’oulu ‘Āina is a place of refuge where people sustain and propagate the connections between the health of the land and the health of the people. Volunteers participate in all phases of land stewardship and community members forge an intimate relationship with the land, their food, and each other as they care for growing things from ʻāina to table.
Roots Program
The Roots Program strives to improve the social, physical, and mental health of the people of Kalihi Valley, and that of its visitors, through three key means: Grow, Prepare, Share. Roots supports the community coming together to work with food and medicinal plants. People come away with expanded minds, satisfied bellies, and social connections that strengthen the health of the community.
Local I’a
Local I’a supports sustainable fishing livelihoods by increasing the value of local fisheries; improving consumer access to fresh, local, responsibly caught seafood; and preferentially sourcing from well-managed fisheries.They take a quadruple-bottom line approach, seeking to create positive environmental, social, economic, and cultural changes in our island community.
Natural Resource Data Solutions
A place-based project management software for agriculture & conservation that combines project management, GIS, data collection, reporting, and analysis. It is made to facilitate collaboration between partners and teams, from high-level decision-makers to field workers. Built to work offline in remote and rugged areas, the software makes data management easy, accurate, mobile and shareable.
Oahu Fresh
Oʻahu Fresh is a centralized facility providing aggregation, storage, processing, distribution, and marketing of Hawaii grown products. Oahu Fresh provides access to food from local farms for homes, offices, restaurants, hotels, and schools throughout Hawaii. As an avid participant in the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Hawaii program, they take pride in delivering freshly grown produce to your doorstep.
Hui Kū Maoli Ola
Dedicated to the perpetuation and preservation of Hawaii’s natural history and culture. By integrating education, the propagation of native Hawaiian plants, and through quality restoration and landscaping services, they are making improvements to and increasing public appreciation for the unique natural environment and cultural history of Hawaiʻi.
Kainalu Ranch
The Dunbar ʻOhana has stewarded this intact ahupuaʻa on the Island of Molokaʻi since 1914. Kainalu ranch represents a unique opportunity to help bring ahupuaʻa based management into the 21st century for those seeking to reinvigorate place-based, culturally relevant land management and environmental restoration in Molokai, Hawaiʻi and beyond.
KŪ-A-KANAKA
KŪ-A-KANAKA is committed to the revitalization of Hawaiian language, culture and traditions and the re-establishment of Hawaiian control over Hawaiian affairs. They believe in education for Hawaiians, by Hawaiians, using Hawaiian ways of teaching, learning and assessment.When Natives Thrive Everyone Benefits.
Kupu Hawaiʻi
To preserve the land while empowering youth. Kupu Hawaiʻi is building a better future for Hawaiʻi’s youth by providing hands-on training in conservation, sustainability, and environmental education for young adults, with the goal of fostering the next generation of environmental and cultural stewards.
Real Good Fish
A community of fishermen, consumers, industry and conservationists working together to protect and celebrate the ocean. Sustainability and social equity impacts are at the core of every sourcing decision. Supporting local fishermen also has a multiplying effect for local economies as that money circulates repeatedly through communities.
Lunalilo Trust
Lunalilo Home’s vision is to be the foremost system of elder services for Native Hawaiians. Their mission is to provide respectful, quality and caring services for the poor, disadvantaged and frail kūpuna.The Home plans to further enhance its services to increase its impact in the community and preserve the legacy of our kūpuna and the Hawaiian people.
MAʻO
MAʻO was established to recognize our land and youth as our most important assets and to catalyze educational and entrepreneurial opportunities to address the root causes of cultural, social, economic and environmental poverty. MAʻO strives to meet five areas of need: underprivileged youth, sustainable economic development, organic agriculture, health & well-being, and Hawaiian culture.
Nohopapa Hawaiʻi
Nohopapa Hawaiʻi provides Hawaiian cultural resource management services to assist in protecting and restoring important wahi kūpuna (ancestral places) in order to re-establish loina kūpuna (cultural traditions). Their mission is to strengthen generational ties and time honored commitments between communities and their lands once again.
Paepae o He’eia
Paepae o He’eia’s vision is to perpetuate a foundation of cultural sustainability for Hawai`i communities through education. They implement values and concepts from the model of a traditional fishpond to provide intellectual, physical, and spiritual sustenance for the community.
ʻŌiwi TV
ʻŌiwi TV’s mission is to leverage the power of media to create meaningful impact and experiences for Hawaiians, Hawaiʻi and the rest of the world. ʻŌiwi TV’s vision is to Reestablish the Native Hawaiian worldview to a place of authority in Hawaiians, Hawaiʻi and the rest of the world.
Pono Pacific
Pono Pacific Land Management assists conservation managers and landowners with the monumental task of preserving, protecting, and restoring natural resources in Hawai’i and the Pacific. The companyʻs culture revolves around the Hawaiian word “pono”: doing what is right and living with integrity.
Street Grindz
A resource to Hawaii’s residents and guests who are looking for an eclectic alternative to the island food scene. They partner with the best of Hawaii’s mobile food & beverage industry, entertainers and retail boutiques, to make them more visible and accessible and have produced over 175 food & festival events in the last 6 years.
Town
Town is a visionary restaurant integrating community, locally sourced food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and meaningful as well as financially sustaining employment. Town is passionate about giving back while supporting the local organic movement and creating sustainable, community-oriented businesses. Local first, organic whenever possible, with aloha always.
Waipā Foundation
Waipā Foundation’s mission is to restore the ahupua’a of Waipā and inspire healthy, thriving communities connected to their resources. Waipā teaches, shares, and inspires Hawaiian values and ahupua`a practices; builds passion, skills, competency in related areas of knowledge; and takes care of its people & communities.