Kapiāolani Community College was awarded a five-year federal grant worth $2.5 million from the Title III Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian (ANNH) Strengthening Institutions Program for its project,Ā KÅ«loaāa: Advancing Indigenous Innovators.
As part of Kapiāolani Community Collegeās commitment to fostering innovation rooted in indigenous values,Ā Chancellor Louise PagottoĀ andĀ Title III Project Director Kapulani LandgrafĀ envisioned theĀ KÅ«loaāa project to develop a cohort of indigenous innovators and engage with co-curricular activities by cultural practitioners and indigenous business and industry professionals. The project will expand transfer curricular pathways to four-year programs in economics and entrepreneurship. KÅ«loaāa will further enhance campus fiscal stability by supporting grant programs benefitting Native Hawaiian students and activities.
This project embodies the spirit of the College value of KÅ«loaāa,Ā ensuring that the needs of our students are met with support and service,Ā rooted in kÅ« (to stand, to rise; to achieve; to prepare) and loaŹ»aĀ (to succeed, harvest, obtain, gain). This project will directly benefit the growing population of Native Hawaiian (NH) students from Hawaiian language immersion schools and other public high schools.
Chancellor Pagotto shared, ā[t]he motivation for KÅ«loaāa stemmed in part from the enthusiastic response of Native Hawaiian students to KÅ«haŹ»o Zane, Jamie Makasobe, Kaleo Wong and Kamaka Pili, indigenous entrepreneurs who presented at that the KÄ«paipai Career and Transfer Speaker Series, an activity supported by our current Title III Part AĀ Kauhale ke Kuleana Phase IIĀ project. It was clear to me that nurturing the entrepreneurship of our students would provide an important avenue to integrate their cultural heritage and their creative energies.ā
Congratulations to Chancellor Louise PagottoĀ andĀ Kapulani Landgraf, Title III Project Director, for their successful application.
Download the project abstract to learn more about KÅ«loaāa.
Related links:
- Next Generation of Title III Projects Embrace Cooperation
- ANNH Eligibility Renewed for KapiŹ»olani Community College
- Title III Programs at KapiŹ»olani Community College
- KapiŹ»olani Community College was successful in applying for eligibility to participate in the Title III Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian serving institutions programs in FY20