Pacific American Foundation

Pacific American Foundation, a Hawaii-based Native Hawaiian Organization Owned nonprofit, operates as a grant recipient (85% of recent awards as prime recipient) delivering environmental science education, cultural restoration, and youth mentorship programs to federal agencies, particularly NOAA and the Department of Education. The organization does not hold federal contracts or serve as a subcontractor on contract vehicles; its federal footprint is entirely grant-based, with a small sub-recipient role on Department of Education capacity-building grants administered through Child Trends and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

The foundation's customer concentration is heavily tilted toward two agencies. The Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration funds 22 awards (54% of the recent portfolio), while the Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education funds 12 awards (29%), together accounting for 95% of recent grant awards. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior's Interior Business Center, and the National Science Foundation each fund one or two grants. Recent prime grant work includes a September 2026 NOAA Project Grant for the NALU Maui Nui Year 2 mentoring program, which develops an eight-week mentor framework serving at-risk youth on Maui, Molokai, and Lanai with training in environmental stewardship, scientific data collection, and cultural protocol (completion August 2027); an October 2024 Department of Interior Project Grant for Project Hooulu Pono, leveraging thirty years of biocultural restoration practice to address climate change through ancient Hawaiian fishpond (loko ia) science and aquaculture (completion September 2026); and an August 2022 NOAA Project Grant for The Wisdom of the Watershed Phase II, which engaged Hawaii youth in earth and ocean sciences through teacher-researcher partnerships and contributed student-collected data to the Heeia National Estuarine Research Reserve System (completion July 2024). Historical grants include a $245,000 November 2021 National Science Foundation Division of Computer and Network Systems award for culturally relevant physical computing and sustainability education for Native Hawaiian students (CFDA #47.070, completed October 2023) and a $150,000 November 2021 NOAA Coastal Zone Management Program grant for the NALU Studies Maui Alaka'i Opi'o project training high-risk youth in marine science and data analysis (CFDA #11.473, completed October 2023).

Activity shows a sharp rebound in 2026 with five awards after flat years in 2022, 2024, and 2025. Only one award faces completion in the next twenty-four months, presenting minimal recompete exposure. In its sub-recipient role, Pacific American Foundation provides technical assistance and implementation support to Child Trends on Department of Education regional capacity-building initiatives (awards dated January 2025, January 2026, and August 2026) and partners with National Fish and Wildlife Foundation on watershed restoration and coral reef protection projects in West Maui that expand restoration capacity and train Native Hawaiian interns in ecosystem restoration techniques (awards dated March 2026). The foundation's capability portfolio centers on place-based environmental education, indigenous knowledge integration, youth mentorship in science and stewardship, biocultural restoration, and regional capacity building for educational institutions across Hawaii and U.S. Pacific territories.