2026 Annual Shop Small Hawaii
Kokua Awards and Pitch Competition
Join us for the 2026 Annual Shop Small Hawaiʻi Kōkua Awards and Pitch Competition—an exciting afternoon celebrating the passion, innovation, and impact of Hawaiʻi’s small business community!
Come cheer on five local small business owners as they take the stage and pitch their businesses for a chance to win a share of $5,000 in cash prizes. Bring your energy, show your support, and be part of an exciting competition that helps elevate Hawaiʻi’s entrepreneurs!
PRIZE CATEGORIES
1st Place: $2,500
2nd Place: $1,750
3rd Place: $750
Together, we’ll also recognize and honor the incredible small businesses and community leaders who go above and beyond to make Hawaiʻi a stronger, more connected place to live, work, and grow.
Celebrate Our 2026 Kōkua Award Winners!
Small Hawaii Sustainable Champions – Small businesses working towards creating a stronger Hawaii through sustainable business practices.
Shop Small Hawaii Mentors & Connectors - Small businesses helping to uplift fellow local entrepreneurs by sharing their knowledge, guidance, and connections in Hawaii.
Shop Small Hawaii Neighborhood Champions - Small businesses supporting local causes and giving back to our community.
EVENT INFORMATION
DATE | Tuesday, October 20, 2026
TIME | 11:00am - 2:00pm
WHERE | YWCA Laniakea - Fuller Hall
COST | $30 (includes buffet lunch)
Pitch Competition starts at 11:30am.
YWahine Marketplace opens at 11:00am.
2025 KOKUA AWARD WINNERS
Guava Jammies is a mama-founded, ʻohana-run small business based in Mānoa Valley, Oʻahu, that has woven sustainability into the heart of everything they do. With a deep-rooted respect for the ʻāina and future generations, Guava Jammies exemplifies what it means to care for community and planet through thoughtful, eco-conscious practices.
Their sustainability journey begins with bamboo—one of nature’s most renewable
and low-impact resources. By choosing bamboo as their core textile, Guava Jammies reduces water usage and environmental strain compared to traditional materials. Their commitment to slow fashion is evident in their small-batch, limited-edition collections that prioritize quality, durability, and mindful production over mass manufacturing.
2025 SUSTAINABLE CHAMPION
Guava Jammies
2025 MENTOR + CONNECTOR
CLASSIC WAVES BOUTIQUE
Classic Waves Boutique (CWB) is more than just a retail space—it is a thriving hub for connection, mentorship, and entrepreneurial growth. With two brick-and-mortar locations showcasing over 60 local artists, CWB has built a business model rooted in community and collaboration, making it a powerful force in Hawaiʻi’s creative and small business ecosystem.
At the heart of CWB’s mission is the belief in the power of storytelling and knowledge-sharing.
By spotlighting local makers and sharing their journeys—alongside their artistry—CWB helps educate customers while empowering each vendor to grow their brand and expand into new retail markets. Their intentional focus on vendor development transforms the boutique into a launchpad for emerging entrepreneurs.
2025 MENTOR & CONNECTOR
Marian Jean Lee Visual
As a multi-passionate entrepreneur and founder of several businesses, Marian Lee has always believed in the power of giving back—especially through education. Her mission has been to empower others by sharing the knowledge and experience she’s gained over the years, particularly in the areas of digital marketing and social media strategy.
Whether it’s through educational content through her social media platforms or teaching structured classes, she’s remained committed to making marketing knowledge more accessible to our local business community.
Since 2021 Marian has shared her time and expertise to mentor local businesses through various community programs like YWCA Oahu’s Launch My Ecommerce Website and WE by Rising Tide. Through these programs, Marian has helped cohort participants—from first-time founders to growing startups—understand the importance of branding, content strategy, and social media marketing.
2025 NEIGHBORHOOD CHAMPION
THREE LITTLE DUCKS
Three Little Ducks has become a cornerstone of support for families in Hawaiʻi, embodying what it truly means to be a Neighborhood Champion. Rooted in a deep passion for helping parents and keiki thrive, this community-centered business offers far more than pediatric physical therapy—it creates a safe, empowering space where families feel seen, supported, and connected.
Through a wide range of services including baby classes, pediatric therapy, family walks, yoga sessions, and free educational resources, Three Little Ducks meets families exactly where they are. Their approach is holistic and heart-centered, offering both expert care and practical tools to help navigate everyday challenges of parenting and child development.
2024 KOKUA AWARD WINNERS
Rogue Wave is bringing a plant-based, compostable alternative to conventional (petroleum-based) plastic to market through their patented beach toys.
Designed to disappear when you're done, Rogue Waves have created durable plastic toys designed for play, durability, portability, and sustainability. The toys are made with a non-toxic material which is made from a proprietary blend of compostable plastics derived from renewable feedstocks. After a long and useful life, Rogue Wave beach toys will compost back to the earth. This unique compostable material not only reduces the impact of traditional plastics on our environment, it also delivers the strength and heat resistance needed for functional parts. After a long and useful life, Rogue Wave beach toys will compost back to the earth.
(Check out their Instagram reels to see what it looks like when it composts!)
Plastic pollution is a huge problem, and one that Hawaii has a front-row seat to. In addition to cleaning our beaches and repurposing microplastics we remove from our shorelines, we need to rethink and redesign our manufacturing systems to eliminate plastic pollution at the source. At Rogue Wave they’ve designed plastic pollution out of the equation!
2024 SUSTAINABLE CHAMPION
Rogue Wave LLC
2024 NEIGHBORHOOD CHAMPION
Classic Waves Boutique
Classic Waves Boutique opened in the middle of a pandemic. The shop highlights local artists, eco-friendly options, unique hard to find products in Kailua, and brands giving back.
To date Classic Waves Boutique has donated over $16,000 since 2021.
During the aftermath of the fires, Classic Waves Boutique created a section in their store highlighting Maui vendors. They donated a portion of their sales to the Hawaii Community Foundation in the amount of $6500. In September they continued their support by purchasing $5000 in products from these Maui vendors:
Additional organizations donated throughout the years include:
Additional contributions include a partnership with Heleloa Media to prepare youth for careers in multimedia. Classic Waves Boutique is proud to share that the majority of their social media and promotions are captured by these talented students.
Paradise Now Hawaii
Artful Scents
Wings Hawaii
Ku’ia Estate Chocolate
Kula Essentials
Women’s Fund of Hawaii
Kailua Elementary
Kainalu Elementary
Kaelepulu School
Boys and Girls Club in Kailua
Windward Community College
Susan G Komen Hawaii
And more…
2024 MENTOR & CONNECTOR
Champagne Collaborations
Jamie Champagne and her team have been doing change work in various industries for over 20 years. They know the value of change and the need for fun, exciting and engaging collaboration WITH teams, stakeholders and customers to bring lasting solutions.
As a longtime sponsor of the International Institute of Business Analysis Hawaii chapter (IIBA Hawaii) for many years, Champagne Collaborations has supported its mission to promote the practice and profession of business analysis. By providing free certification training to the community, Champagne Collaborations supports business professionals on their journey towards their goals and bring much needed value to their organizations.
Additionally, Champagne Collaborations proudly supports events, providing materials and donating Jamie's own book to invigorate a community whose talents are seen in the value they return to their respective organization. Hands-on workshops and virtual trainings are offered free to the community in partnership with IIBA Hawaii to support this incredible non-profit and is a key factor that has helped to sustain the organization through the times of covid.
2023 KOKUA AWARD WINNERS
Keep it Simple Zero Waste isn't just a store; it's a tidal wave of transformation for Hawaii’s community and environment. Founded in the midst of a pandemic, driven by a deep-seated passion to combat plastic pollution, it has become a sanctuary for change.
By offering customers the chance to refill containers with plastic-free alternatives, Keep It Simple has diverted over 35,000 bottles from ending up in landfills and oceans. In addition, countless disposable products like sponges and hairbrushes, have been replaced by reusable and compostable materials.
2023 SUSTAINABLE CHAMPION
KEEP IT SIMPLE HONOLULU
2023 NEIGHBORHOOD CHAMPION
TWIGGY
In 2015, Twiggy was born out of Jessica’s love (obsession) for reusable tote bags, her interest to learn graphic design, and her desire to create designs that make people SMILE. The name Twiggy originated from her first business, Leaflet Designs.
through Twiggy, Jessica has found a way to give back. Over the years, Twiggy has hosted numerous fundraisers in support of various nonprofits including the Make Lemonade Project, Fur-Angel Foundation, Aloha Harvest, and Aloha Diaper Bank. In addition to donating more than $5K worth of merchandise towards local causes, Twiggy has raised over $6K to do good for the Hawaii community!
In conjunction to the fundraisers that she organized for the Maui Foodbank and the Maui Humane Society to support their fire relief efforts; Jessica released a limited-edition Japanese collection to raise funds for the Aloha Diaper Bank Maui Pantry. 100% of proceeds from the collection were dedicated to the fundraiser. With her customer’s help, Twiggy raised $1,850 to help Aloha Diaper Bank provide 6,750 diapers to Maui families in need which will serve 600+ keiki in a month.
2023 MENTOR & CONNECTOR
FOR J’S HAWAII
In 2001, Janis Tanga founded for J’s Hawaii. Despite there being little to no support resources for small businesses when she first started, Janis did her research and was able to expand her manufacturing and wholesaling. Today’s 4 J’s products are Made in Hawaii and Hawaii Seal of Quality certified. They can also be found in stores on Oahu, the Big Island, and Maui.
It is this journey, that Janis shares with the next generation of small businesses as they navigate their own business ventures. By sharing her knowledge, she hopes to help them overcome many of the challenges that she faced including transitioning from a home kitchen to a commercial kitchen, building your business for wholesale, and preparing for food safety certifications and audits (Good Manufacturing Practices audit with a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point plan or a Global Food Safety Initiative certification).
Accepting Nominations for the 4th Annual Kokua Awards
Starting August 1, 2025
2025 ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Must be a registered Shop Small Hawaii member
Current Shop Small Hawaii Members - Complete the Updated Shop Small Hawaii Membership Form
If you aren't registered, register for FREE today: Membership Form
Must be a registered Hawaii business
Be In good standing with the DCCA
To ensure your nomination is as competitive as possible, please review the following tips:
Ensure that all areas of the nomination are filled out, and each question is answered. The judges can only work off of information provided in the nomination packet and/or letters of support- so if something isn’t listed, it can’t be considered.
For ease, feel free to use bullet points, numbers, etc. instead of full paragraphs.
The best and most successful nominations include facts and figures, not opinions.
Make sure the nomination is submitted on time. Due to the volume of nominations we receive there will not be any nomination deadline extensions.
Questions? Comments? Contact Brittany Montilliano at bmontilliano@ywcaoahu.org. Mahalo!