The Nalukai Academy Summer Camp is a tuition-free, 10-day intensive boarding program for Hawai’i high school students from around the State 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.
Nalukai Summer Program
2027 Nalukai Summer
Program Details
10-day, intensive boarding program with 13+ hours of scheduled activities daily
Working with industry experts, innovative educators and cultural practitioners, student teams take solutions from concept to launch
Past venues include Liliʻuokalani Center, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, and Kamehameha Schools Kapālama
Participants receive a brand-new laptop that they may keep upon completion of the program
All current Hawaiʻi high school students (public, private, charter and homeschooled) are eligible and the application and recommendation forms are typically posted in January. The program has been paused for 2026 and will resume in 2027. Please subscribe to our newsletter and check social media for updates.
Over ten intensive days, high school students from across Hawaiʻi immerse themselves in an entrepreneurship journey grounded in Native Hawaiian culture and values.
Students begin by identifying problems that matter to them and their communities, conducting stakeholder interviews and deep research to develop nuanced understanding. Working in teams, students ideate creative solutions, build experimental prototypes, and test them with real community members. Throughout the program, they develop business models focused on operational sustainability, craft compelling pitches, and learn to present their ventures with confidence.
The experience is enriched by cultural field trips , daily manaʻo o ka lā (thought of the day) sessions with cultural practitioners, wellness activities, and a positive intelligence program that builds self-awareness and leadership skills. The program culminates in a public hoʻike where students present their fully-developed venture pitches to community members, demonstrating not just their solutions but their personal growth as entrepreneurs and leaders rooted in aloha ʻāina.
SAMPLE SCHEDULE
Pre-work
Before arriving in-person, students participate in three online sessions that lay the foundation for their Summer experience. They introduce themselves to their cohort, explore Hawaiian cultural grounding, and identify their personal values through guided exercises. Students discover how values intersect with business ethics, learn communication skills for working across differences, and begin identifying problems they care about.
Day 1: Welcome & Team Building
The day centers on building trust and connection through team-building activities that develop active listening, communication, and collaborative skills. Students design complete pop-up businesses in teams as their first collaborative challenge, and evening activities establish agreements for working together throughout camp.
Day 2: Problem Identification
Students explore what makes problems worth solving, individually ideate numerous challenges, then share and organize them collectively. Teams form around shared interests and begin systematic research into multiple problems using various research tools. By day’s end, teams narrow their focus to one issue they’ll investigate further.
Day 3: Problem Definition
Teams conduct stakeholder interviews to validate their understanding and analyze root causes through structured exercises. In the afternoon, students learn to present problems persuasively and create visual presentations demonstrating both their research and ability to communicate why their problem matters.
Day 4: Solution Ideation
Through structured ideation exercises, teams generate and evaluate diverse solution concepts, creating visual posters for their most promising ideas. The afternoon introduces operational sustainability as students develop mission statements, explore regenerative business models, and create customer personas. The evening features Community Night with alumni and guest speakers.
Day 5: Field Trip & Marketing
Huakaʻi (field trips) provide cultural and real-life experience for students to understand how problems (both historical and contemporary) and solutions manifest in their communities. Later, they develop marketing strategy, brand identity, and build landing pages that communicate their value proposition to potential users.
Day 6: Build a Prototype
Teams learn the Build-Measure-Learn framework and build experimental solutions to test their core assumptions. Students venture into the community to test their experiments with members of their target audience, learning to iterate based on feedback.
Day 7: User Testing & Iteration
Students continue testing with their target audience, gathering valuable feedback. A second huakaʻi exposes students to key individuals actively working on solving problems within the community, followed by evening presentations from local entrepreneurs.
Day 8: Art of the Pitch
Students learn to transform their work into compelling presentations through exercises that develop storytelling and performance skills. They craft elevator pitches and full pitch decks, then present to feedback panels of facilitators who provide detailed guidance for refinement.
Day 9: Ho’ike
After final rehearsals, students present their ventures to the community at a public hoʻike . Each team delivers a polished pitch followed by Q&A, showcasing their solutions and learning journey. The evening includes documentary screening, networking, and celebration.
Day 10: Reflection & Next Steps
The final day focuses on reflection and commitment to next steps through guided activities, peer feedback, and personal action planning. Students learn about the alumni program, complete assessments, and participate in closing ceremonies that honor their experience with a hui hou—until we meet again.
HINA EA: fund accessible reproductive healthcare in Hawaiʻi
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 Oʻahu 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 Puaʻa— 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.