Become a Founder
Nalukai Academy Summer Startup Camp is a tuition-free, 10-day intensive boarding program for Hawai’i high school students to explore business and entrepreneurship strategies driven by cultural values and social impact. Nalukai students are called Founders because we believe you aren’t “becoming” an entrepreneur––you already are one.
The 2024 Nalukai Academy Summer Startup Camp will be held from July 5th-14th, 2024 at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo campus on Hawaiʻi Island. Founders will be provided with housing and meals for the duration of camp and receive a professional-grade laptop to support their academic and professional endeavors. Accepting applications for Summer 2024 until April 8th, 2024.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
Business Education & Ethical Entrepreneurship
Learn ethical entrepreneurship and business development skills through direct engagement with Lean Startup and Design Thinking practices including problem validation, solution ideation, prototyping and experimental product design and iteration through retrospectives guided by models such as the Triple Bottom Line and cultural values.
Community & Career Development
Our kaiāulu (community) is growing! Over 230+ alumni create a network of future industry leaders and add to our worldwide community of mentors. Both during and after camp, Founders receive world-class mentorship from industry professionals, cultural practitioners, and educators.
Cultural Understanding
Hawaiian culture and place-based learning inform and guide a new model of entrepreneurship where Hawaiʻi is put first. Nalukai emphasizes ethical and self-perpetuating business models that are ʻāina-centric and guided by the unique cultural landscape of Hawaiʻi.
Leadership Development
We believe that every member of a team practices leadership in their own way. Nalukai provides a safe environment for Founders to explore different leadership roles and discover their own ways to lead through 360-Degree and Co-active Leadership models.
Storytelling & Communication
Founders are encouraged to make it personal and incorporate their identity and perspective into persuasive communication to secure needed support for their ventures in a culminating Hoʻike event.
Design & Technology Skill Application
Learn how to hone and practice design and technology skills to build entrepreneurial ventures. Each Nalukai Founder receives a professional-grade laptop to support their academic and professional skill development.
WHAT IS CULTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP?
Culturally-informed entrepreneurship at Nalukai
Nalukai believes that entrepreneurship in Hawaiʻi must be rooted in the values of the ʻāina (land) and kanaka (people) of Hawaiʻi. Our programs incorporate cultural practice and reflection to guide Founders to create socially and culturally informed ventures. Fostering a healthy relationship between culture and business in Hawaiʻi is key to building a better world for future generations.
WHAT WILL YOU CREATE?
HINA EA: fund accessible reproductive healthcare in Hawai’i
At Nalukai Summer Startup Camp, Founders learn the key components of an impactful pitch presentation. Logic, emotion, and credibility—combined with innovative thinking—persuade investors to support solutions for problems that Founders care about solving.
Team Hina Ea—consisting of 2023 Nalukai Founders Kayuga, Sherry, Molly, and Taarini—chose to explore a problem that was especially meaningful to them as young women: access to affordable reproductive health care.
During the problem identification and validation cycle, Team Hina Ea learned that communities outside of O’ahu have limited access to vital care networks. In their research, Hina Ea found that over 118,000 young girls and women in rural Hawaiʻi do not have access to reproductive healthcare. Their solution connects women in these communities to funding that provides access to necessary care.
PUAʻA: CONNECTING COMMUNITY TO moderate feral pig population and save native species
Before even thinking of solutions, it is important to be clear on the problem you’re trying to solve, why it matters, and who it affects.
2023 Summer Cohort Team Pua’a— who wanted to find a way to combat decreasing native species populations— the true problem was unexpected.
Through research and problem validation, Founders Jada, Kaimana, Nauhi, and Ronson found a link between the divots created by feral pigs that promote the spread of avian malaria and other deadly diseases that decimate native bird populations.
To solve this issue, Team Pua’a created an app to connect local hunters with communities to reduce feral pig populations in rural Hawai’i and minimize their harm to native birds.