Winners' Camp Foundation

Winners’ Camp is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational foundation with a 40-year legacy of empowering Hawai‘i’s youth and communities. Our flagship program is a week-long residential leadership and accelerated learning retreat for teens ages 13–17.

Since 1984, more than 20,000 campers and 1,500 graduate leaders have completed our programs. In a safe, supportive environment, teens break through self-imposed limitations, discover courage, and build lasting self-confidence through experiential learning and outdoor challenges.

Our curriculum blends leadership development, accelerated learning, and character building to help teens:

Develop a strong sense of self-esteem and identity
Build cooperative and responsible relationships
Strengthen trust, teamwork, and communication
Learn conflict resolution and advanced communication skills
Cultivate academic growth through mindset, habits, and study strategies

More than academics, Winners’ Camp fosters positive attitudes and self-belief — the foundation for success in school, relationships, and life.

Her-story

Winners’ Camp Foundation was founded in 1984 by Delorese Malulani Gregoire and a team of inspired graduates of Marshall Thurber’s Business and You Lifeskills courses. The first camps were held on Kaua‘i, with early contributors including Vic Quiton, Guy Tucker, Dr. Trinidad Hunt, Michael Wall, Dr. Stephanie Burns, Mick Quenzer, Pam Chambers, and Anthony Robbins. In 2000, Winners’ Camp was blessed with a license from Kamehameha Schools / Princess Pauahi Bishop Estate to use the Kamehame Ridge site, which we named the Hawai‘i Leadership Academy. What began as a grassroots effort has grown into a nonprofit educational foundation that partners with schools, organizations, and families to empower thousands of teens through experiential learning, leadership development, and community connection.

Our Ohana Mama

Delorese Gregoire is the Founding Director of Winners’ Camp. She has a rich history of working with teenagers and their families as Founder of Hawai’i Study Tours, which brought students from around the world to study in Hawai’i. In 1984 she directed a team of enthusiastic educators and created Winners’ Camp Foundation. She developed specialized programs with the Department of Education, the Department of Health, and private foundations, businesses, and financial institutions; both private and public schools across the Islands, the Mainland, Japan and China.

Our Director

In 2000 our director, Jeannette Emley Macaluso, first attended Winners' Camp as a camper and realized "This is my place." She returned on the weekends to help build up the site and to camps as a leader, facilitator and administrator, through high school and college, stepping aside when she began a family.

Her children attended camp after Covid in 2022 and they haven't left. She is now the Executive Director and works alongside her husband and children up at Winners' Camp.

Our Mission

We exist to empower Hawai‘i’s youth, families, and educators through transformational learning. Winners’ Camp works to:

Provide cutting-edge leadership training for teens, families, and educators
Awaken teens to their personal and community potential
Help young people break through self-limiting beliefs and move toward success
Equip teens with tools for accelerated learning and inspire excellence
Teach the Five R’s: Respect, Responsibility, Resourcefulness, Resilience, and Restraint
Support educators with experiential teaching tools through workshops and seminars

Our Board of Directors

Winners’ Camp is guided by a volunteer Board of Directors and community leaders committed to our mission:

Allan Silva, President

Debbie Bohol, Secretary

David Livingston, Past President

Charlie Long, Director

Joseph O'Connell, Director, Graduate