Movers and Shakas

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
883665280
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Honolulu, HI, USA
Phone
8083045813
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Adult, Continuing Education

Reported finances

Revenue
$313,709
Expenses
$258,194
Assets
$318,202
Liabilities
$65,801

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JASON HIGA (PRESIDENT)
  • DENISE YAMAGUCHI (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • NA'ALEHU ANTHONY (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • NICOLE LIM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • NICOLE LIM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $156,211 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of movers and shakas is to integrate and retain key talent, especially returning kamaaina, to tackle brain drain, grow the economy, and build community. Our hitop program creates an immersive Hawaii 101 experience, enabling our participants to thrive in Hawaii while benefiting other key stakeholders, such as local employers and the state of Hawaii at large.

What it reported doing in 2025

Movers and shakas main program is Hawaii talent onboarding program (hitop), which is a six-week initiative designed to help new and returning residents adjust and succeed in Hawaii. Movers and shakas also aid local businesses in keeping their top talent. Through engaging activities such as cultural education, community service, and networking, participants get a deep dive into what it means to live and work in Hawaii. They enhance their job performance, forge meaningful connections, and develop a strong sense of belonging and responsibility toward their new home. This program stands out because, unlike typical workplace orientations that focus solely on company culture, hitop emphasizes the importance of understanding and integrating into the broader community of Hawaii. It enables leaders from various fields to come together in groups of 20-30, helping them build relationships across different sectors and deepen their understanding of Hawaii's unique cultural and social dynamics. While the program is currently principally based in o`ahu, hitop is proactively extending its reach through one-day pilot initiatives and visits to neighboring islands, ensuring the inclusion of a wider audience despite geographical challenges. Hitop is committed to enhancing leadership within the nonprofit sector in Hawaii. With the conclusion of cohort eight by the end of 2025, hitop successfully acculturated 197 leaders (40 participants in 2025) from over 50 organizations, garnering stellar feedback. Survey results indicate significant enhancements in participants' understanding of local culture, sense of home in Hawaii, work effectiveness, and sense of belonging. Movers and shakas aspire to serve as a critical hr talent onboarding resource for the state of Hawaii, striving to establish our program and Hawaii as pioneers in place-based talent acculturation and retention. Movers and shakas also piloted a one-day program in las vegas in the spring 2025 to acculturate leaders serving Hawaii but based on the continent.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 64% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 77.8%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17.7%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.23; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 60.5%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -9.7% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64% of revenue deployed · 77.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $201K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $156K · 8 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.