Climbhi

LEI program is a Hawaii Tourism Authority sponsored workforce development project to inspire Hawai'i's youth to select careers in the Hawai'i visitor industry by providing them with the necessary means to achieve success. From the student's perspective, LEI program represents an opportunity for Leadership, Exploration and Inspiration, and from the hospitality industry's perspective, LEI provides an opportunity to Lead, Expose, and Inspire Hawaii's youth.LEI programs were hosted on four islands, with special considerations for the unique logistics on each island.The 10th annual LEI program took place in April 2022 on four differrent islands. Participants included 1,000 high school and college students from across the state and over 100 businesses.

ClimbHI developed a Human Services (Business and Hospitality) Pathway On-Demand Certificate for high school students throughout the state under a contract with the Hawaii State Department of Education (DOE) and with support from the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA). The Service Excellence Certificate of Achievement curriculum provides fundamental skills for employment in the hospitality industry and beyond. The curriculum was exclusively developed in partnership with the School of Hotel Administration at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, one of the leading hospitality administration programs in the world, for the DOE's Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. Upon completion of the 9 modules, on-demand training, students will receive a Service Excellence Certificate of Achievement from Cornell University and ClimbHI. Over the 2022-2023 academic year, 708 participating students in grades 9-12 at 17 high schools statewide were sponsored through generous donations from 24 partners totaling nearly $56,000. Approximately $177,000 has been raised for program participants in the past 3 year.

The organization started the development of an online platform in 2019 called the ClimbHI Bridge. It connects educators and businesses through streamlined communication that leads to successful outcomes. Once in the portal, there are multiple opportunity types for educators to explore and then send requests to businesses that are available in each category, including: (1) Guest Speaking / Guest Teaching, (2) Judges & Coaches Sought, (3) Mentorships/ Advisory Boards, (4) Job Shadowing/Teacher Externship, (5) Project-Based Learning, (6) Scholarships, (7) Jobs, (8) Internships, (9) Site Visits and Other Events, (10) Career Fair Participation and Job Readiness Activities, and (11) Materials and Resources.ClimbHI Bridge is the largest public-private partnership of its kind in the state, reaching over 57,000 students to date through groundbreaking workforce development and educational events.