Kalihi-palama Culture & Arts Society Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237154899
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020
- Location
- Honolulu, HI, USA
- Phone
- 8085216905
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $574,948
- Expenses
- $615,506
- Assets
- $91,736
- Liabilities
- $85,000
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- GARRETT KAM (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- GUY SIBILLA (EXECUTIVE DI): $142,098 total reported compensation
- KAIPO LEOPOLDINO (SECRETARY): $5,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
In 1972, kumu hula george lanakilakekiahiali`i na`ope and kahu wendell silva created our organization to preserve hawaiian culture through dance. From that idea they formed the kalihi-palama culture & arts society, inc. (kpcas) to provide opportunities for Hawaii's keiki, regardless of nationality, to showcase hula, hawaiian language and culture. The most visible example of their efforts is represented by what is now recognized internationally as the queen lili'uokalani keiki hula competition. Over the past 45 years kcpas estimates that kpcas have hosted over 25,000 children who have danced on our stage. Kpcas has also expanded its mission over the years to provide ethnic dance at nominal and sometimes no cost at various community centers; hula, filipino folk, okinawan, and american dance to the hawai`i community with nominal costs. Kpcas continues to support its mission to promote hula literacy in hawai`i and abroad with its keiki hula annual language scholarship award. Kpcas has most
What it reported doing in 2025
Kalihi-palama culture and arts society, inc. (kpcas) program services include nearly 1,000 children serviced annually with free after-school activities. The organization provides hula, filipino folk, okinawan, and american dance to the hawai`i community with nominal costs. Kpcas continues to support hula literacy in hawai`i and abroad with its keiki hula international exchange program established in 2004. Kpcas presents two major annual cultural events open to the public. The queen lili`uokalani keiki hula competition (keiki hula) and the malia craver hula kahiko competition are recognized as distinguished events that promote hula preservation from a local to international perspective. The malia craver hula kahiko competition was established in 1988. It is a showcase amongst hawai`i's secondary school students in their achievements of song and dance. The first queen lili`uokalani keiki hula competition was instituted in 1976. Since then the competition now reaches approximately 500 keiki hula participants with an audience over one million annually. Kpcas acknowledges excellence in hula preservation by providing trophies and monetary awards. Kpcas also recognizes each year one kaikamahine kumu hula and one kane kumu hula for their lifelong dedication to teaching children each of whom is awarded our likelike and leleiohoku commermorative plaque. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, kpcas recognizes excellence in hawaiian languge achievement with its annual kawena? Ula keiki hula scholarship. This year kpcas expanded its community out reach beyond just our hula community. We created a "vendor village" to provide a commercial space for local hawaiian artisans to sell their creations. We included national fashion designers such as manaola and kini zamora. We sought lei makers as well as lei hulu crafters to help our family and friends celebrate their dancers in style. We offered non-competing food vendors and jewelry makers. In essence, we created a space to promote the artists within our local artisan community. Kpcas knows it has had and continues to have a pervasive impact on our local community as well as on millions of others who live beyond our beaches. We know through our surveys, for instance, that our event has touched nearly every person within our state. This is so as we have had tens of thousands of keiki dance hula at our event in the last forty-four years. Or someone in their family has danced keiki hula. Or someone at work knows someone who has a keiki that dances hula. Or someone has a friend who has danced keiki hula. And so on. We are proud that we have become a quietly pervasive and positive force, which continues to be a silent source of hawaiian energy
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 87
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 12
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 94.3%; rating input score 94
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -7.1%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.93; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 23.9%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -10.8% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 94.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $580K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $142K · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.