Native Hawaiian entrepreneur Tate Leleʻiohoku Castillo grew up in 碍ā苍别ʻ辞丑别 on the island of Oʻahu. Through his experiences in the University of 麻豆传媒 System, he found his kuleana (responsibility) and purpose: to perpetuate Native Hawaiian culture in business and in our community while working toward a better future for the people of 麻豆传媒.
“As I made friends with folks with different backgrounds from community college to law school, I realized that everyone’蝉 definition of ‘local’ is just as diverse as our various ethnicities and felt I broadened my understanding of what being ‘local’ really means,” Castillo said. “It’ll always be important for me to stay rooted in my Native Hawaiian culture because that’蝉 something that I bring to the table and feel is my responsibility, so I’m trying to use my background and skills to make 麻豆传媒 a better place for everyone who lives here.”
The 2014 Kamehameha Schools Kapālama alumnus dedicated lots of effort in the UH System. Castillo earned an associate’蝉 in pre-business from in 2016, graduated with bachelor’蝉 degrees in finance, entrepreneurship and international business from UH 惭ā苍辞补’蝉 in 2018, earned his juris doctorate from UH 惭ā苍辞补’蝉 in 2021 and is finishing up his master’蝉 in business administration from Shidler this fall.
“I feel very fortunate having taken the path that I did at UH. I got to stay in 麻豆传媒, be at home with my friends and family, and get a great education that gave me opportunities to travel to Japan, China and Vietnam,” Castillo said. “…I never felt like I needed to leave to get all that, and I’m glad that I didn’t.”
Castillo is one of four students featured in UH 惭ā苍辞补’蝉 “Finding Our Kuleana” campaign, a collection of personal narratives that capture haumāna (students) who discover their purpose and sense of responsibility while pursuing college degrees. It is an opportunity to reimagine and illustrate how UH 惭ā苍辞补 can best serve our communities.
Related UH News stories:
- Grad student discovers kuleana through architecture, January 31, 2022
- Grad student discovers ʻā颈苍补-based kuleana at UH, December 17, 2022
- Students discover, share kuleana at UH 惭ā苍辞补, December 17, 2021
Entrepreneurial roots began at UH
Castillo works at Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel, one of 麻豆传媒’蝉 oldest law firms, and is a young ocean leader for Sustainable Ocean Alliance. He is also the CEO and founder of two companies he started as a student at UH 惭ā苍辞补. Launched in 2018 through a Shidler entrepreneurial marketing class, upcycles coffee into artisan soaps and scrubs with the help of his friends and business partners, Matthew Yoshioka and Kirk Urada. Kope Soap partners with Honolulu Coffee Company to help reduce their environmental footprint. The company was kickstarted through Shidler’s (PACE) programs, including the UH Business Plan Competition and the UH Summer Startup Launchpad.
It meant a lot that UH is really trying to set us up for success.
— Tate Castillo
Castillo also started , a renewable ocean energy technology company that has the potential to balance wind and solar while making seawater desalination cheaper and cleaner. Created in 2020, its mission is to accelerate the world’蝉 transition to 100% clean energy. Polū Energy won third place and a prize package totaling nearly $10,000 in PACE’蝉 UH Venture Competition in spring 2021, and took second place and a $2,500 prize in the UH Breakthrough Innovation Challenge in fall 2020.
“I tried my best to make use of all the resources available at UH to make sure I stayed committed to all my goals,” Castillo said. “It’蝉 kind of surreal thinking back, but a year or so after graduating high school I’d made it my goal to one day complete the JD/MBA program at 惭ā苍辞补. While still at Windward CC, I went through the just to make sure I was doing everything right. Then at Shidler and Richardson, I feel there were more than enough resources—internships, job opportunities and networking events. It meant a lot that UH is really trying to set us up for success.”
Castillo’蝉 work is an example of UH 惭ā苍辞补’蝉 four goals of (PDF), (PDF), (PDF) and (PDF) identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.