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THE KOHALA CENTER INC

EIN 99-0354676 KAMUELA, HI

Browse the largest nonprofits in Hawaii

Revenue 2023
$3,146,999
Expenses 2023
$3,456,625

Program services were 80.8% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

As filed

Subsection
03
NTEE code
C60
Classification
1000
Street
65-1291 KAWAIHAE RD

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2023

Mission

The Kohala Center is an independent community-based center for research, conservation, and education.

  • THE FOUNDATION OF THE KOHALA CENTERS (TKCS) WORK IS TO BUILD HEALTHY PILINA (MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS) THROUGH STEWARDSHIP AND EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGES WITH OUR UNIQUE ISLAND ECOSYSTEMS. BY TURNING ANCESTRAL KNOWLEDGE AND RESEARCH INTO DAILY PRACTICE, WE STRENGTHEN CONDITIONS FOR PILINA THAT RECONNECT US BACK TO OUR PLACE, WATER, FOOD, AND PEOPLE. OUR CURRENT FOCUS IS ON IMPROVING THE HEALTH OF FIVE SPECIFIC AND UNIQUE ECOSYSTEMS (THE PLACES OF INTERDEPENDENCE BETWEEN AINA AND KANAKA): 1) KOHALA MOUNTAINS NATIVE CLOUD FOREST, 2) THE AHUPUAA OF KAWAIHAE, 3) THE HISTORIC HALA GROVE AT NIULIAI, KOHALA, 4) THE KULA LANDS AND AGROECOSYSTEMS OF NORTH HAWAII AND 5) THE CORAL AND MARINE ECOSYSTEMS OF KAHALUU BAY. WE PROVIDE AINA-BASED FORESTRY, AGRICULTURE, WATERSHED, SEED, SOIL AND REEF HEALTH PROGRAMS THAT SUPPORT FAMILY, STUDENT, TEACHER, FARMER, WORKFORCE, BUSINESS, COOPERATIVE AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT.

    Expenses $2,793,379

As filed on the 2023 return.

Officers and directors · 2023

As listed in Part VII of the 2023 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

  • Cheryl Kauhane Lupenua

    PresidentCEO

    Total calculated
    $114,411
    From this org
    $114,411
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $0
    Hours/week
    0

  • Robert Lindsey Jr

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Ian Robertson

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Puanani Burgess

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Robert Chu

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Peter Vitousek PHD

    Chairperson

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • James Takamine

    Treasurer

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

  • 2023
    Revenue
    $3,146,999
    Expenses
    $3,456,625
    Contributions
    $2,680,227
    Grants paid
    $523,383
  • 2022
    Revenue
    $4,442,958
    Expenses
    $4,516,944
    Contributions
    $4,071,219
    Grants paid
    $0

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

  • 2021 · 990

    Revenue
    $5,340,627
    Expenses
    $5,217,414
    Assets (EOY)
    $7,537,727

  • 2020 · 990

    Revenue
    $3,707,725
    Expenses
    $4,509,843
    Assets (EOY)
    $7,587,760

  • 2019 · 990

    Revenue
    $4,341,153
    Expenses
    $3,484,035
    Assets (EOY)
    $9,346,937

  • 2018 · 990

    Revenue
    $3,490,984
    Expenses
    $3,483,006
    Assets (EOY)
    $8,583,155

  • 2017 · 990

    Revenue
    $4,001,359
    Expenses
    $3,863,962
    Assets (EOY)
    $6,628,915

  • 2016 · 990

    Revenue
    $3,643,995
    Expenses
    $3,461,610
    Assets (EOY)
    $6,128,602

  • 2015 · 990

    Revenue
    $3,620,560
    Expenses
    $3,939,123
    Assets (EOY)
    $5,944,773

  • 2014 · 990

    Revenue
    $5,624,237
    Expenses
    $3,745,207
    Assets (EOY)
    $6,357,912

  • 2013 · 990

    Revenue
    $6,580,239
    Expenses
    $3,626,820
    Assets (EOY)
    $4,710,497

  • 2012 · 990

    Revenue
    not reported
    Expenses
    $2,950,124
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,388,452

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all. Showing the 10 most recent; the API carries the rest.

Grants made

No itemized grants to organizations. Schedule I is filed only by organizations that granted more than $5,000 to a recipient, so most filers have none.

Grants received

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Other IRS files

Auto-Revocation List

Not listed. The IRS publishes this list for organizations whose exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years.

Publication 78

Listed as of 13 October 2026, under deductibility PC.

These are two separate IRS files on two separate schedules, shown as published and not reconciled with each other. Neither is a statement about whether a contribution is deductible today: 19,245 organizations appear in Publication 78 while the IRS's own revocation file lists them as currently revoked, more than half of those revoked before 2019. Absence from Publication 78 is evidence of nothing, and presence is not evidence either. Verify current status with the IRS before relying on it.

What this page reflects

The registration facts above come from the IRS Business Master File published 13 October 2026 and read 1 November 2026, for every organization at once. Returns through tax year 2023, the newest we have parsed for this organization.