2025    marks my first full year as president of the Samuel N. & Mary Castle Foundation. It has been an honor to serve and work with trustees who are so committed to the Foundation’s mission and dedicated to supporting quality, equity, access, and opportunity for all of Hawaii’s children and families, with a clear goal of improving the quality of their lives.  A summary of grants on our website during the 2025 calendar year once again highlights the Foundation’s values and priorities toward achieving those outcomes across Hawaii. In 2025, the Foundation made approximately $3,000,000 in charitable donations.
     Access to quality experiences for children guided many of the trustee grant decisions.  Whether supporting small capital requests or addressing health, safety, and/or programmatic needs, preschools were supported to meet accreditation standards that demand quality.  Similarly, funding was offered to enhance teacher and staff qualifications in support of credentialing and degree attainment.  The Foundation continued to underwrite scholarships at both the University of Hawai’i and Chaminade University for early childhood undergraduate and graduate students. Additional licensing and credentialing grants were awarded this year to bolster educational workforce capacity building, a much-needed initiative in both the private and public preschool sectors.
     Attracting and recruiting faculty for our preschools remains a critical need, which tuition scholarships help support, as noted; however, they are only part of the answer.  Once again, partnering with UH, the Foundation granted funding to the ECE3 project, directed by new community trustee Dr. Terry Lock, for the creation of a Task Force cohort aimed at addressing vital issues related to compensation, benefits, and work conditions that affect the early childhood workforce.  In addition, we funded a planning grant at Chaminade University to develop a teacher education program for two-year-olds, recognizing that early education training is critical for all providers who serve young children in the birth to age eight continuum if quality is to be assured, especially if we are to satisfy the unmet needs in the infant/toddler sector. The program for teachers of two-year-olds got underway in October 2025. In 2026, we will support Chaminade University and the nationally respected Erikson Institute of Chicago to explore how social-emotional learning can enhance Hawaiian values in our pre-K to grade 12 schools.
     For teachers already in the field, the Samuel N. & Mary Castle Foundation provided professional development opportunities in 2025 that enhanced both the knowledge and delivery of quality early learning through workshops in Social Emotional Learning at Chaminade University and STEM at Hanahau`oli’s Professional Development Center. The “Schools of the Future” Conference offered an early learning strand for teachers, featuring a “playground” where presenters addressed AI, place-based learning, and developmentally appropriate practices.  Recognizing the need also to support professional opportunities for our preschool directors, the third Early Childhood Directors’ Dinner was again sponsored by the Castle Foundation, featuring a mainland speaker with expertise in strategic planning. In addition, our trustee, Dr. Terry Lock of the UH College of Education, spoke on the unique features of the private, independent school sector for Hawaii’s families and provided a forum to bring directors together to share their collective voices. The annual speech was delivered in writing by Al Castle.
     Opportunities for equitable access continue to motivate the Foundation’s support of advocacy, both locally and nationally, on behalf of family well-being and quality early learning experiences for children.   These efforts are manifested in both actual funding and the engagement of the Executive Director, Alfred Castle, in our community and nationally through his service as a member of the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative and the Early Childhood Education sponsored by Native Americans in philanthropy.
     2025 was the final year of a pilot program focusing on Infant and Toddler support, emphasizing the Foundation’s commitment to the development of the “whole child.”  This holistic approach has gained prominence in recent years, reflecting the Foundation’s recognition of the complexity of child development and the numerous factors that influence a child’s academic success. In addition, family support remains essential for children to realize the benefits that education offers fully. The Foundation has evaluated the pilot and has announced a new 3-year cohort starting in 2026.
     The expansion of public pre-K opportunities for 3- and 4-year-olds, mandated by Acts 46 & 210 and the Lt. Governor’s “Ready Keiki” initiative, offers hope for increased access and equity of opportunity.  Yet, as our past president, Dr. Robert Peters, cautions us, we must remain mindful that we must not sacrifice either quality or choice in implementing those plans.  The private sector options need to be considered and sustained to meet the needs of families in our communities and to offer services that the public sector cannot provide, such as early and afterschool care and value-added options that support cultural preferences.  Increased POD funding and revised qualifications have expanded financial support for families; however, the existence of these funds alone does not necessarily address the private sector’s needs, nor does it guarantee support for a “gap” group of needy, young families who do not qualify. The Castle Foundation has invested about $3,000,000 in private preschool scholarships since 2000 and, in 2026, will monitor the impact of public subsidies on private school attendance.
     My most profound appreciation to Al Castle for nearly 30 years of leadership and direction of the Foundation, guidance to the trustees, and for keeping us focused on what is most important.  I join our trustees in thanking him for our extensive partnerships with the Kamehameha Schools, the Hawaii Community Foundation, the University of Hawaii, Chaminade University, the Erikson Institute, as well as several national family foundations and philanthropic organizations.
     On a final personal note, I am proud to have been elected President by my fellow trustees. My father, John Baldwin, served as President some 25 years ago. The Samuel N. & Mary Castle Foundation is one of America’s oldest and serves as a lasting memorial to my great-great-grandparents. Their deep Christian faith and commitment to children and their families in Hawaii inspire the Castle family to introduce another generation of family members to our historical purpose and trustee service. As I conclude my career in medicine, I look forward to helping direct innovative projects and programs for Hawaii’s keiki and families.
With best wishes,

Dr. Kittredge Baldwin

December, 2025