About us
Inspiring Independence
Personal mobility devices shape far more than how people move. They influence where people go, how long they stay active, how they participate in public life, and how they see themselves in the world.
Yet for decades, non-motorized mobility devices have been treated as purely functional tools; designed primarily for clinical settings, standardized use cases, and short-term needs. In practice, this has left many people navigating daily life with devices that technically work, but fail to support dignity, adaptability, and sustained independence.
This initiative exists to challenge that status quo.
We believe personal mobility devices should support real lives; lives that are active, varied, social, and constantly changing. Devices should move with people across environments, evolve alongside their bodies, and respect personal identity rather than diminish it.
Our focus is not on quick fixes or incremental improvements. It is on rethinking how personal mobility devices are designed, evaluated, and integrated into everyday life; with long-term independence, confidence, and continuity as the guiding priorities.
This work begins with listening, learning, and building deliberately; alongside people who understand the stakes and want to help shape something better.
Informed by lived experience
This initiative is informed by the lived experience of its founder, Kaheawai Kaonohi, who was born with Cerebral Palsy affecting the muscles in his legs. Walking has always required adaptation; and personal mobility devices have been a constant presence throughout daily life.
Over time, those devices have changed. As a child, Kaheawai relied on crutches. During high school and college, motorized mobility devices became necessary to move between classes efficiently. As an adult, non-motorized devices remain part of everyday life; shaped by work, travel, and the realities of navigating public spaces that are not always designed with accessibility in mind.
Living with mobility support has never meant living cautiously. Kaheawai travels alone, spends time outdoors, and participates in activities like mountain biking, kayaking, and paddle boarding. Each phase of life has required different tools, different compromises, and repeated adaptation; not because needs are static, but because bodies, environments, and ambitions change.
That experience informs how this work is approached. The goal is not to solve for one person’s needs, but to translate lived insight into systems that better support a wide range of people over time. Mobility looks different for everyone; and it evolves across a lifetime. The work ahead reflects that complexity.
What’s been missing from mobility design
For many people, personal mobility devices are introduced at moments of necessity; injury, diagnosis, or transition. What follows is often a narrow set of options designed to solve an immediate functional problem, rather than support a life that continues to unfold.
Dignity and identity
Mobility devices are frequently designed to disappear or conform; prioritizing neutrality over expression. In practice, this can strip away personal identity at precisely the moment when confidence and self-definition matter most.
Design choices carry meaning. When devices look clinical, temporary, or stigmatizing, they shape how people are perceived and how they perceive themselves. Dignity is not an aesthetic add-on; it is a prerequisite for sustained independence and participation.
Autonomy and portability
Many non-motorized mobility devices work well in a single context, but become burdensome across the rest of the day. They are difficult to transport, awkward to store, or impractical in environments that were not designed with accessibility in mind.
True autonomy depends on portability. Devices should support movement across homes, cities, and social spaces; without forcing people to plan their lives around the limitations of the tool meant to support them.
Continuity through change
Bodies change. Strength, balance, endurance, and needs evolve over time. Yet most mobility devices are designed as static solutions; fixed for a moment, rather than adaptable across phases of life.
This lack of continuity forces repeated compromise. People are asked to replace, abandon, or outgrow devices instead of being supported by systems that evolve alongside them. Adaptability should be foundational; not reactive.
How we operate
This initiative is guided by a set of operating principles that define how decisions are made and how responsibility is held as the work grows.
These principles are not aspirational. They are the foundation for everything we build, who we partner with, and what we choose to pursue or decline.
Sustainability
Feature one
Responsibility across systems
We approach sustainability as a company-wide obligation; across how we support our team, how we design and manufacture products, how we steward capital, and how we consider long-term impact.
This includes retaining and supporting employees over time, choosing materials and processes that minimize environmental harm, designing products that can be repaired rather than discarded, and ensuring that sustainability is not a burden shifted onto customers. Responsibility rests with us as the producer.
Sustainability means building systems that endure; economically, environmentally, and operationally; without creating hidden costs for people or the planet.
Transparency
Feature two
Clarity in how decisions are made
We commit to transparency in how priorities are set, how tradeoffs are evaluated, and how progress is communicated. This includes being clear about what we know, what we are still learning, and where constraints exist.
Transparency is not performative disclosure or constant communication. It is the discipline of providing clarity where it meaningfully affects trust, accountability, and long-term alignment; internally and externally.
This principle ensures that decisions are understandable, traceable, and open to scrutiny as the work evolves.
Resilience
Feature three
Designed for change over time
We operate with the expectation that needs, conditions, and contexts will change. Resilience means designing our thinking, systems, and products to adapt over time; rather than assuming stability or permanence.
This applies across product design, organizational structure, and long-term planning. Decisions are evaluated not only on how they perform today, but on how well they can withstand and respond to future shifts.
Resilience requires flexibility without fragility; and intention without rigidity.
Integrity
Feature four
Boundaries that guide growth
Integrity defines the boundaries within which decisions are made. It governs what we choose not to do; even when alternatives may appear faster, easier, or more profitable in the short term.
This principle applies to partnerships, funding structures, product decisions, and internal practices. Growth is not pursued at the expense of dignity, safety, or responsibility.
Integrity ensures that progress does not compromise the standards this work is built on.
Pride
Feature four
Standards we hold ourselves to
We take pride in the quality, care, and intention behind what we create. Pride, in this context, is not performative; it is a reflection of the standards we set and the discipline we maintain in our work.
This principle guides how products are designed, how decisions are made, and how compromises are evaluated. When we take pride in what we build, that care carries through to everyone who engages with it.
Devices should support participation in life; not visually or emotionally diminish the people who rely on them.
Empathy
Feature four
Consideration beyond the immediate
Empathy informs how we evaluate the impact of our decisions; not only on end users, but on employees, partners, caregivers, advisors, and the broader systems affected by the work.
This principle requires us to consider second- and third-order effects; how choices ripple across people, time, and context. Empathy ensures that decisions are not made in isolation, and that harm is neither ignored nor externalized.
Empathy, in practice, is the discipline of thinking beyond the immediate outcome.
Guidance and accountability
As this initiative develops, its direction is shaped not by a single perspective, but through active guidance and accountability.
We work with a board of advisors who bring experience across product development, bioengineering, physical therapy, finance, business law, operations, and lived mobility experience. Their role is to challenge assumptions, test decisions against our operating principles, and help ensure the work remains responsible as its scope and impact grow.
Advisors are engaged as stewards of the work; not as operators. They provide perspective, oversight, and continuity, particularly as decisions become more complex and tradeoffs more consequential. This structure allows the initiative to remain thoughtful, disciplined, and aligned as it evolves.
Governance, at this stage, is not about hierarchy. It is about ensuring that care, rigor, and accountability scale alongside ambition.
The future we’re working toward
We are working toward a future where personal mobility devices are designed as long-term companions; tools that evolve with people rather than constrain them, and systems that support independence without sacrificing dignity, identity, or participation.
This future is not defined by a single product or solution. It is shaped through careful design, responsible decision-making, and a willingness to question long-standing assumptions about what mobility support should look like and how it should function in everyday life.
Building toward that future requires collaboration. It depends on people who bring different perspectives, lived experiences, and areas of expertise; and who care deeply about doing this work with intention rather than urgency.
The work ahead is deliberate by design. It will grow through learning, iteration, and shared responsibility; guided by the principles that anchor this initiative and the people who help steward it.
Let’s connect
Whether you’re interested in collaborating, sharing lived experience, or offering feedback, we’d value hearing from you.