Social Impact Entrepreneur of the Year Award
The award is intended to honor an entrepreneur or entrepreneurial company that makes a substantial contribution to Hawaii. The award recipient will have contributed to non-profit organizations or community volunteer efforts. The Social Impact Entrepreneur of the Year Award celebrates those entrepreneurs and companies that have shown leadership, innovation and commitment to being a part of efforts to solve our state’s toughest problems.
Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Co-op (HUC) is the leading breadfruit farmer organization in Hawaiʻi, with 100 small family farmer-members. By aggregating, processing, and marketing ʻulu and other regenerative local staples through the cooperative model, they are working together to make Hawaiʻi more food secure and resilient – so that our island communities can thrive.
Chef Hui consists of local cooks and food service providers throughout Hawaii coming together to serve their community and deepen our connection to our food system. Chef Hui support farmers, independent producers, ‘aina based organizations and other like-minded folks because they share a pursuit of a more resilient and compassionate world.
The Pop-Up Mākeke, a QVC and Amazon-like e-commerce hub was created to support the hundreds of small businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. To date, the Pop-Up Mākeke has put into the pockets of small and micro businesses roughly $2 million dollars and sold nearly 120,000 Hawai’i based products to customers around the world. The initiative is managed by the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, a federally recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit.