Asai Gilman is Changing Lives in Hawaii

Asai Gilman, a 1992 marketing and information management graduate of Southern Utah University, is changing lives across the state of Hawaii.

He and wife Keawe founded a non-profit organization called Edu-1^st (www.edu-1st.org), in order to prepare Hawaii’s youth for college and career success. Through Edu-1^st, all types of students learn the keys to success, gain self-confidence, and are motivated to adopt a “can-do” attitude in their lives. 

Born and raised in the islands, Asai and Keawe graduated from the Kamehameha School before leaving the mainland for college at SUU. While here, they dated, married and started a family. 

Asai served as SUUSA’s multicultural representative and shortly after graduation took a job as SUU’s assistant director of school relations. That was when he first developed the idea for Edu-1^st, as he was conducting a college fair presentation on the Navajo reservation for young people and their families, and pledged then to return to Hawaii and create a non-profit organization that would give back to his people.

After working at SUU, Asai took a job at Dixie College where he coached football players from Las Vegas, Arizona, California and Hawaii.

“I got a chance to travel to Hawaii to recruit football players for five years, and each time felt impressed to follow my dream,” he says. “I saw families that lacked the college and career confidence and failed to see and believe in themselves based on social challenges and cultural stereotypes.”

He created a highly successful marketing company that specialized in yellow page advertising and design in the Las Vegas area. But his career path abruptly changed when he received a call from the president of BYU Hawaii asking him to interview for the position of director of admissions and recruitment. Feeling inspired by his dream of giving back to his community, Asai accepted the position and moved his family to Hawaii.

In the course of his work there, Asai met a colleague in the college’s parking and shared his vision of creating a non-profit organization to help families prepare for higher education and career success. This colleague, who worked in the grants division of the United States Department of Education, offered his help.

But it was not until three years later, after meeting this same colleague three different times—and a fair amount of prodding from his wife—that Asai decided to go for his dream and submit a grant.

Over the next few weeks, Asai and Keawe worked non-stop. They created Edu-1^st in two days, secured 501c3 status in just three weeks, and finished writing nine different grants. Edu-1^st was awarded two of the nine grants submitted, and received $3.3 million in funding. The couple went to work, hiring five full-time employees and another 20 part-time employees to help run the program.

“I have no idea how we did it, but I believe angels assisted,” says Asai.

He also believes the purpose of Edu-1^st made all the difference, especially considering that many larger entities and agencies, like the University of Hawaii, were in competition for the same pool of grants.

Since its official inception in 2003, Edu-1^st has served more than 6,000 students and families, and has helped build confidence in college and career success. Asai, who was the executive director, says, “Now, I serve on the board; it’s been a fun ride.”

The Gilmans have seven great children who carry on the tradition of excellence. Four of the seven are scholarship athletes at the United States Naval Academy, UVU, BYU and University of Hawaii (UH). Number four is a freshman in high school who has already received a Division 1 football scholarship offer to UH. The last three children, Asai says, “are amazing souls and keep us on our toes.”

Asai believes that he received great preparation skills for life from Southern Utah University because he received an opportunity to experience practical and hands-on learning.

“It was there where I learned how to create,” he says.