2026 Hawaii Internship Summit

Piʻikū Co. got to share 6 big learnings from four cohorts and a partnership with Zippy's at the Hawaii Employers Council Internship Summit — 250+ attendees.

Hereʻs what we shared:

1. One is the loneliest number. Our first two cohorts placed one intern per company. No matter how well you design the experience or how great the supervisor is, there's an inherent mismatch in hierarchy. A single intern is always going to feel isolated. Third cohort we paired two. By the fourth, we had full teams.

2. The sum is greater than its parts. One intern gets you their individual potential. Two gets you more than double — they push each other, cover each other's gaps, build momentum together. A full team is where value becomes exponential. For Zippy's we built cross-functional teams — PM, design, engineering — 4–6 people across two teams.

3. Define a "breakable" project. Scope real deliverables with a real timeline. Increase the stakes. Interns will rise to meet the challenge. Define a low level of excellence — an "unbreakable" project in a vacuum where the outcome doesn't matter — and they'll fall to that level of expectation. Defining this type of project is genuinely hard for companies with minimal tech capacity. That's where Piʻikū comes in — scoping projects in a way that derisks the work while elevating the stakes.

4. Audit the services you actually need. A full internship pipeline has four phases: (1) define the breakable project, (2) marketing and recruitment through interviews and team composition, (3) project delivery — weekly agile check-ins led by senior staff, mentorship, professional development, networking and (4) hoʻike, the final presentation that elevates the stakes for everyone involved. Most companies don't need to build all of that from scratch. For Zippy's, we came in as a full-service partner across every phase. As an intermediary, Piʻikū expands capacity — whether you have an established program or are starting from zero.

5. Have a mentor. Ask a lot of them. Pay them in the currency of community. We expect 4–5 hours per week from our mentors. That sets the right expectations and naturally surfaces the people who are ready for it. Senior talent want a structured, meaningful way to give back. So curate a mentorship experience that matches the value they're seeking.

6. The internship isn't a silver bullet. Work experience gives young people a critical piece of what they need to land a job — which is why we spend 80% of our time and resources there. But landing a job, especially in tech, is a long road. Your job is also to not let them give up. We do continuous professional development and networking to keep the momentum and the chances alive.

If your company wants to be part of the next cohort — or if you just want to talk story about what this could look like — reach out.