Kokua Mau

What Kokua Mau does

Kokua Mau is a Hawaii-based non-profit coalition founded in 1999 that operates as a statewide movement and resource hub for advance care planning (ACP), POLST (Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment), palliative care, and hospice care education. The organization produces multilingual educational content in 13 languages—including Chinese, Chuukese, Ilocano, Japanese, Korean, Marshallese, Olelo Hawaii-Niihau, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog, Tongan, and Vietnamese—targeting Hawaii's diverse Pacific Islander and Asian populations, alongside free downloadable advance directives, POLST forms, and interpreter glossaries. It serves as Hawaii's de facto policy and resource backbone for community-based palliative and end-of-life care, with over 50,000 copies of its flagship 16-page ACP booklet distributed to date.

The organization operates without a proprietary technology platform; its "product" is a curated content library, training programs, and coalition-convening function delivered through monthly meetings, Palliative Pupus networking events, webinars, an ambassador program (Let's Talk Story), and a speakers bureau. Distribution is free and self-serve via the kokuamau.org website and direct community engagement. Named institutional stakeholders include Hawaii's Med-QUEST Division (Medicaid), The Queen's Medical Center, HMSA, Hospice Hawaii, St. Francis Hospice, Hui Pohala, Hawaii Cancer Coalition, and the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California (a sister organization).

Kokua Mau is funded by annual organizational membership fees, individual donations, and project-specific grants (notably from the Hawaii Community Foundation, Hawaii Chamber of Commerce, and California Health Care Foundation). All core services are provided free of charge, with reduced rates or scholarships available for some training programs. The organization operates with 1-10 employees from Honolulu, holding monthly meetings at St. Francis Healthcare System. Its most consequential recent advocacy achievement was helping secure CMS approval of Hawaii's MedQuest Community Palliative Care Services Benefit in May 2024—the first statewide community-based palliative care Medicaid benefit in the U.S.

Name

Kokua Mau

Legal name

Kokua Mau

Website

https://kokuamau.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Kokua Mau is a Honolulu-based non-profit coalition founded in 1999 that provides advance care planning, POLST, and palliative and hospice care education and advocacy, including multilingual resources in 13 languages, serving Hawaii residents, healthcare professionals, and member organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Palliative and Hospice Care Coalition Services

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Non-Hospice Serious-Illness / Community-Based Palliative Care (In-Home) (HSABAFAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Community Health & Prevention Program Funding (HLAJALAF)

Keywords

• Advance care planning
• Palliative care education
• Hospice care resources
• POLST forms
• Serious illness advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Honolulu

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Annual membership fees from organizations and individuals to support the coalition's work
2. Donations: Relies on donations from individuals and organizations to fund operations and programs
3. Grants: Received grants from Hawaii Community Foundation (Organizational Capacity Building grant in 2009) and Hawaii Chamber of Commerce (IMPRESS and Care Project grant) for specific initiatives

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Kokua Mau is Hawaii's statewide nonprofit coalition for advance care planning, palliative care, and hospice care. It provides free multilingual educational resources (POLST forms, advance directives, palliative care guides in up to 13 languages), trains and deploys community ambassadors through the Let's Talk Story Program, hosts monthly meetings and Palliative Pupus events, runs professional training webinars, and advocates for serious-illness care policy at the state legislature and through Medicaid. Revenue comes from membership fees, donations, and grants; nearly all resources and programs are offered at no cost to individuals, families, and healthcare providers.

Product overview

Kokua Mau is Hawaii's statewide coalition for hospice and palliative care, operating as a movement to improve care for those with serious illness. The organization offers a suite of interconnected programs and resources centered on advance care planning, including: the Let's Talk Story Program (an ambassador/speaker program for community education), POLST form resources (available in 13 languages), multilingual palliative care glossaries for interpreters, monthly meetings and Palliative Pupus networking events, professional training webinars, and a comprehensive document toolkit. Kokua Mau functions as a resource hub and thought leader rather than a technology product company, providing educational content, training materials, and community programs to foster conversations about end-of-life care across Hawaii's diverse populations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Advance Care Planning (ACP) Resources Educational resources and planning tools to help individuals in Hawaii make decisions about their future medical care before illness or crisis occurs, including information on Advance Directives and related documents.
• POLST (Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) Portable medical order for end-of-life care wishes, available in 13 languages; specifies the medical treatment a patient wishes to receive and must be signed by a physician, APRN, or PA and the patient or legally authorized representative.
• Palliative Care Information and Resources Specialized medical care information for people living with serious illness, focused on providing relief from symptoms and stress and improving quality of life for both patients and families.
• Hospice Care Resources Information about specialized end-of-life care services in Hawaii, connecting individuals and families with hospice providers throughout the state.
• Let's Talk Story Program Speaker/ambassador program that breaks down barriers to conversations about serious illness and end-of-life care by providing free workshops for community groups and public education on advance care planning.
• Speakers Bureau Free speaker presentations available for community groups and organizations on topics related to serious illness care, advance care planning, and end-of-life conversations.
• Multilingual Resources Health literacy and palliative care resources in 13 languages - including Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Chuukese, Ilocano, Japanese, Korean, Marshallese, Olelo Hawaii-Niihau, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog, Tongan, and Vietnamese - covering POLST forms, advance directives, and interpreter glossaries.
• Kokua Mau Monthly Meetings Regular monthly meetings on the last Thursday of each month featuring updates and guest speakers on palliative care, advance care planning, and end-of-life issues; open to all participants via Zoom and in-person.
• Palliative Pupus Bi-monthly networking and clinical education opportunity that combines interdisciplinary learning with socializing; held every third Wednesday every second month in hybrid format open to all on Zoom.
• Professional Training and Webinars Educational webinars and training programs for healthcare professionals, including recordings on topics such as palliative care implementation, advance care planning billing and coding, and hospice care, with some fees and scholarships available.
• Tool Kit (Document Library) Centralized collection of all Kokua Mau materials in PDF format, including advance care planning booklets, POLST information, and educational resources for professionals and consumers.
• Annual Membership Program Annual membership program for healthcare providers, hospices, health systems, and individuals supporting Kokua Mau's coalition work, providing training access, networking benefits, and alignment with Hawaii's palliative care advocacy.

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Coalition for Compassionate Care of California (CCCC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2026Sister organization to Kokua Mau with years of partnership. Jennifer Moore Ballentine, CEO of CCCC, provides expertise on Uniform Healthcare Decisions Act and national POLST policy. CCCC maintains the regional summit website.
• Hui PohalacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Partner organization for ESPEC Hawai'i: Empowering Social Workers in Palliative Care training. Providing online and in-person training with Dr. Myra Glajchen and Ms. Shirley Otis-Green. First 50 completers eligible for tuition reimbursement.
• MyDirectivesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Jessica Zan, VP of Clinical Integration at MyDirectives, presented on ecosystem of advance care planning. MyDirectives has a nationwide registry working with states to create comprehensive systems for accessing advance care documents.
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2025Kate DeBartolo from IHI presented My Health Checklist tool for older adults that complements Conversation Project materials. IHI developed this free guide for medical appointment preparation.
• The Conversation ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLongstanding cooperation with The Conversation Project, providing co-branded resources including the Starter Kit for advance care planning conversations. Materials widely used in Hawaii.
• Med-QUEST DivisioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Community Palliative Care Services Benefit - Hawaii became first state in nation to have CMS approve community-based palliative care services under Medicaid.
• Cindy RoatcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational consultant and trainer on language access in healthcare. Principal author of original Bridging the Gap. Collaborated with Kokua Mau to update multilingual glossaries for palliative care interpreting.
• Hawaii Cancer CoalitionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerQuality of Life Committee partnership providing educational presentations on palliative care for cancer patients and survivors.
• Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & ChildrenminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHost venue for Oncology on Canvas art therapy events for cancer patients and families.
• The Queen's Medical CenterminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHost venue for Oncology on Canvas events and sponsor of educational summits.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Compassion & Choices: End-of-life advocacy and education organization. Comparable advocacy and education delivery but focuses on end-of-life choice policy rather than palliative care infrastructure.
• Aging with Dignity (Five Wishes): Advance care planning organization distributing Five Wishes document. Comparable ACP education mission but operates as consumer-product model versus Kokua Mau's coalition/network approach.

Broad incumbents

• Hospice Foundation of America: National education/liaison organization for hospice care. Comparable hospice education and public engagement mission; broader geographic scope than Kokua Mau.
• Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC): National organization building palliative care capacity across US health systems via training and consulting. Overlaps with Kokua Mau's professional training mission but operates at national scale with broader scope.
• National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO): National trade association for hospice/palliative care providers. Comparable mission area (advocacy, education, policy) but operates at national scale rather than single-state coalition model.
• Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC): National coalition working on serious illness care policy and care models. Comparable coalition/advocacy structure and shared policy focus on community-based palliative care.

Direct peers

• The Conversation Project: National public engagement initiative on end-of-life care conversations. Kokua Mau co-brands resources (Starter Kit) via longstanding partnership, and both share an ambassador/coalition model.
• National POLST (formerly National POLST Paradigm): Coordinates state POLST programs and standards. Kokua Mau runs Hawaii's POLST program and helped pass Acts 186, 154, 293, and 98, making it a directly comparable state-leadership entity.
• Coalition for Compassionate Care of California (CCCC): Explicit sister coalition advancing advance care planning, palliative care, and POLST policy. Most direct comparable peer given shared mission, structure, and ongoing partnership with Kokua Mau.

Others

• California Health Care Foundation: Philanthropic grantmaker that originally funded the multilingual glossaries Kokua Mau updated in 2025. Comparable ecosystem participant supporting palliative care infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/KokuaMau
• Facebookfacebook.com/kokuamau
• Instagraminstagram.com/kokua.mau
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kokua-mau

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Kokua Mau