History & Mission

History

A diverse group of community leaders representing government, business, social services, education, healthcare and the environment helped launch KPAA in 2002. Initially sponsored by the Garden Island Resource Conservation and Development, Inc. (GIRC&D) and the Rural Champion Community (RCC), KPAA’s roots go back to the 1998-2000 General Plan Update process.

History

Consultants Nadine Nakamura and Roxanne MacDougall, with help from community members such as Beryl Blaich and Lucy Kawaihalau, guided KPAA’s initial planning.

The need for island-wide collaboration to strategically plan, leverage resources, and take action on priority projects on Kauai became apparent. There was agreement that a working partnership of government, business, and community to jointly plan and implement projects would yield far greater results than any one entity working on its own. This premise underlies the vision for KPAA.

The first priority issues were selected in April 2003, and the first staff was hired in August 2003. Kauai Planning & Action Alliance became a 501(c)(3) corporation in December 2004.

Mission

To bring together diverse organizations for collaborative planning and action to achieve targeted community goals.

Our mission and programs support four key community-based values included in the Kauai General Plan 2000:

  1. Providing opportunities for all in a strong, diverse economy
  2. Caring for the beauty of our lands and water
  3. Preserving Kauai’s rural character
  4. Supporting culture and a vibrant, healthy community

We carry out our mission by:

  • Providing a safe and open forum for dialogue
  • Setting priorities and taking action on these priorities
  • Collecting and publishing indicators data on trends, progress and outcomes related to our priorities
  • Fostering synergy, creativity and effectiveness among those who shape the destiny of our island.


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