Kaua'i Planning & Action Alliance

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Kaua'i Planning & Action Alliance

Since 2002, KPAA has brought together diverse organizations across the island of Kaua’i to achieve community goals. We invite you to join us! The `Auwai.

We use island-wide thinking to drive local-led impacts using research, capacity building and strategic alliances. Keiki to Career Kaua`i is a community collaboration of more than 50 community partners, working together to ensure our young people are healthy, resilient, competent, confident, and caring. We believe that young people from birth to young adulthood need skills to develop holistically a

nd transition successfully from one stage to another. We use the concept of the `auwai to demonstrate this educational journey and the support our youth need along the way. We weave life skills and parent/family engagement into everything we do. We currently are spearheading the Kaua`i Resilience Project, a community partnership of 30 organizations, government agencies, businesses and individuals dedicated to insuring that our young people are resilient, are able to overcome adversity or stressful times and are able to thrive despite the challenges they will encounter in life. Another program is the Kekaha Early Literacy Project, working in partnership with the school and the community to help raise reading scores, so students have a strong literacy foundation for a successful future. Keiki to Career Kaua`i established a common vision, mission, goals and shared values. We believe evidence-based decisions provide the greatest opportunity for successful change. We established 26 youth indicators to measure youth progress to be sure we are effectively helping our young people. We recognize that systemic change takes time and that this is a long-term initiative. Building widespread support and leadership among people and groups from all parts of the island will ensure the sustainability of our effort. The Keiki to Career Kaua`i Leadership Council guides the initiative, supported by committees working on the focus areas. Kaua`i Planning & Action Alliance (KPAA) serves as the coordinating agency, providing overall coordination and support for the initiative. For more information, please visit our website: www.keikitocareer.org

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A Community Collaboration. More than 40 individuals from 25 organizations, businesses, and agencies are working together using a collective impact approach to ensure our young people are ready to learn and ready for life. We believe that young people from birth to young adulthood need skills to develop holistically and transition successfully from one stage to another. We use the concept of the `auwai to demonstrate this educational journey and needed support. Priorities. We currently have two priority areas:

- Birth to Kindergarten Readiness
- High School to Post-Secondary Readiness

We weave life skills and parent/family engagement into everything we do. Desired student outcomes. All students are:

- Kindergarten ready
- Academically ready
- Post-secondary ready
- Career ready
- Citizenship ready
+ physically healthy and safe
+ socially, emotionally, mentally and spiritually well
+ connected to their families and the local and global communities
+ mindful, caring, compassionate and self-directed

Our Process. We've established a common vision, mission, goals and shared values. We believe evidence-based decisions provide the greatest opportunity for successful programs. We have established youth indicators to measure our results to be sure we are achieving desired outcomes. We report our results annually and make improvements as needed. We are drawing on the Ready by 21 framework:

We recognize that systemic change takes time and that this is a long-term initiative. Building widespread support and leadership among people and groups from all parts of the island will ensure the sustainability of the effort. Organizational Structure. A Leadership Council guides the initiative, supported by committees working on the focus areas. Kaua`i Planning & Action Alliance (KPAA) serves as the backbone organization, providing overall coordination and support for the initiative. Groups partnering in this initiative include:
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- County of Kaua`i
- Leadership Kauai
- Hale `Opio Kaua`i, Inc.
- Hawai`i DOE-Kaua`i Complex Area
- Good Beginnings Alliance
- Kaua`i Community College
- KIDS Preschool
- Kupu a`e
- PATCH
- Junior Achievement Kaua`i
- Boys and Girls Club- Kaua`i
- Big Brothers/Big Sisters-Kaua`i
- many more

06/15/2026

Mahalo nui to all 65 individuals and organizations who participated in our Community Development Training sessions last week. It was great to hear the diversity of perspectives and voices, as well as the unified theme of seeking tools to improve our delivery of service and support across Kaua'i.

This experience underscored our belief in the collective impact model: organizations bringing together and managing the shared work plan of uplifting a community.

Here are some takeaways from the training, as well as KPAA's commitment to applying the valuable tools shared by Paul Schmitz and Nikki Cristobal, who did a fantastic job of facilitating the 3 sessions.

06/03/2026

⏰ Last chance to register for KPAA's FREE Workshop and Talk Story on Equity Grounded in Asset-Based Community Development, which starts on Thursday!

🤙 We're especially excited to explore what this could look like when applied among Kaua'i's communities.

The training will be led by:

Paul Schmitz from the Collective Impact Forum who will lead us on two online sessions on equity and Asset Based Community Development.

Nikki Cristobal, who will lead an in person talk story to make the theory practical for Kaua'i by asking: who are our communities and what does equity look like to them?

June 4 & 5, 9:30-noon (virtual via Zoom) with Paul

June 5, 1:30-4 p.m. (in-person with Nikki in Līhu‘e)

Details will be included with your registration: https://forms.gle/y7oC67RevvhdSzdSA

05/31/2026

Since its inception, and as evidenced by the launch of the Keiki to Career and Kaua'i Resilience Project programs, KPAA has always been a staunch believer in the ripple effects of helping our island youth reach their full potential.

Congrats to all this year's high school graduates for their hard work, and best of luck in the next exciting phase of your academic and professional careers! 🎉

05/21/2026

🤝 What Does Equity Mean for Kaua'i Today?

A Free Virtual Training + Talk Story for community leaders and change-makers

How can we ensure that our social action lifts up ALL of Kauaʻi's communities?

For nonprofits and community leaders in Hawaiʻi, this question is often complicated by "Mainland" solutions that don't match our unique local culture.

At KPAA, we want to flip that script – join us in clearing up some of the misunderstandings and uncertainty around what it means to engage, be engaged, and seek equitable outcomes for our diverse communities.

📅 June 4 & 5, 9:30 a.m. – 12 noon
with Paul Schmitz from The Collective Impact Forum
(virtual via Zoom)

📆 June 5, 1:30 – 4 p.m.
with Kauaʻi's own Nikki Cristobal, founder of Kamāwaelualani
(in-person in Līhu'e)

This training focuses on equity as the practical means to ensure that all people in our communities can thrive. You'll learn to:

- Define equity work in more practical and less polarizing ways
- Use data to shape more effective programs
- Address systems barriers that limit some groups’ ability to thrive
- Listen and act with community to create more responsive solutions
- Reflect on the roots and results of social disparities on Kauaʻi
- Brainstorm how to build equity in concrete and meaningful ways for our local communities

Register here: https://forms.gle/y7oC67RevvhdSzdSA

05/15/2026

🤝 KPAA invites community leaders and changemakers to a FREE 2-part virtual training on Equity and Asset-Based Community Development.

📆 June 1 & 2, 9:30-noon with Paul Schmitz from the Collective Impact Forum
🕰 June 2, 1:30-4 p.m. with Kaua'i's own Nikki Cristobal, founder of Kamāwaelualani

In recent years, equity has often been misrepresented and misunderstood. This training focuses on equity as the practical means to ensure that all people in our communities can thrive.

👊 With Paul Schmitz, participants will learn to:

* Define and describe equity work in more personal, practical, and less polarizing ways
* Utilize data to understand disparities among different groups of people and how to target programs and services differentially to help all succeed
* Assess and address systems change barriers that may limit some groups' abilities and opportunities to thrive
* Listen and act with community and shift power to ensure solutions meet people where they are and meet their best interests
* Make commitments to practice equity in their leadership and community work

🤙 In the followup discussion with Nikki Cristobal, participants will brainstorm how to make equity real with practical applications for our local communities.

The format will include breakout conversations so please join with cameras on and ready to participate with others.

Participants will take home the Collective Impact Forum's Equity Toolkit for use in their organizations and communities.

Register at https://forms.gle/y7oC67RevvhdSzdSA

04/29/2026

The 2026 Hawaiʻi Quality of Life Survey is NOW LIVE.

This anonymous, 10-20 minute survey is open to all Hawaiʻi residents 18+.

The Hawaiʻi Office of WeIlness and Resilience and University of Hawaiʻi researchers are again partnering to better understand the conditions that shape Hawaiʻi residentsʻ quality of life. In
2024, over 8,000 residents shared their experiences on health, housing, work, and more in the first survey. Building on that success, this next effort will help track progress over time, identify emerging concerns, and ensure decisions are grounded in the lived realities of people across the islands.

Here's how you can help:

✅ Take the survey at health-study.com
✅ Share it with your ʻohana, friends, coworkers, and community
✅ Grab ready-made flyers and other outreach materials at health-study.com/2026-survey

04/24/2026

Mahalo nui to all the community partners who Keiki to Career worked with this month to raise awareness about car seat safety on Kaua'i.

Keiki safety and health continues to be a high priority of ours, and to date this year, our community health worker Leah Ho has already helped to organize 71 car seat checks, with 19 new car seats distributed and 61 Safety & Prevention Packets provided. 🙌

On April 6 the Kaua'i Veteran’s Memorial Hospital , .police.department, Hawaii State Judiciary – Driver’s Education, and came together to check car seats for local families, replacing 2 with new ones provided by the Kauai Police Department.

And on April 11, the Kaua'i Police Department and the Marshallese Association of Kauai organized a Child Car Seat Safety Class for the COFA community at Salvation Army in Līhu'e.

04/22/2026

We're thrilled to introduce Morgan Hannan, the new President and CEO of the Kaua'i Planning & Action Alliance. Morgan follows Alice Luck, who served from 2020-2026 and to whom the KPAA Board is deeply grateful for her commitment and achievements.

Morgan is actively seeking input from community members and leaders on the three questions outlined above, as he and the KPAA team design their action strategy moving forward.

If you or someone you know would like to share thoughts about Kaua'i's most urgent challenges, potential solutions and necessary partners, please fill out this form (and check out our new website): https://kauainetwork.org/form/join-in/

You can also contact Morgan directly via email: [email protected] or send us a DM.

04/21/2026

Aloha, friends of Keiki to Career!

We are repurposing this page to include news, updates and opportunities from Keiki to Career AND other projects of the Kaua'i Planning & Action Alliance.

Stay tuned for more exciting announcements soon! 🌿

12/26/2025

We're thrilled to share our 2025 Annual Report, which always gives us the opportunity to reflect on everything we've accomplished in the past year, as well as how grateful we are to our community for supporting our amazing, challenging and vital work. View the annual report by visiting https://report.kauainetwork.org.

Address

2959 Umi Street, Ste 201
Lihue, HI
96766

Website

https://www.kauainetwork.org/, https://keikitocareer.org/

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