Steve Sue

Steve Sue is an American software developer, filmmaker, and nonprofit operator. He is producer and writer of the documentary film Shaka: A Story of Aloha. He also created Project Shaka, a nonprofit initiative associated with the film.

As part of Project Shaka, he wrote a bill that Hawai'i Governor Josh Green signed into law on June 21, 2024, making the shaka the Official State Gesture of Hawai'i. It has been described as the first state gesture in the United States. Also in 2024, he created the Official Hawai'i DMV Shaka License Plate program to promote road safety in Hawai'i. Both the Shaka documentary and Project Shaka are part of ID8, a Hawai'i 501C3 nonprofit founded by Sue where he serves as chairperson.

Sue is the owner of O-WOW, Inc., a branding and digital automation firm that develops custom software, app and website solutions, including SumoSum.com, a financial forecasting application. Sue’s career includes work as a story consultant and conceptual designer in entertainment, hospitality, food service, retail, product and software. He holds a BA in design from UCLA and a JD in law from UC Berkeley.

He has developed project-based learning educational and entrepreneurship programs including Lemonade Alley, Project Lemon Tree and BizGym.com. Sue donated use of BizGym to schools including Iolani School in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he launched Lemonade Alley, an eco-entrepreneur challenge. At Lemonade Alley, students grades K–12 invent recipes, build stands from recycled materials and sell lemonade for a day to raise money for a charity or school of their choice. Project Lemon Tree is a school tree planting program that includes curriculum to guide the design and building of citrus pergola projects. He has written project-based learning curriculum models including entrepreneurship, app development and SEO writing, available at Amazon.

Sue started his career as a home builder, founding Bedrock Development, Inc. in Oakland, California. Bedrock evolved into an environmental design firm with architecture, theme and branding units that created production housing, retail, restaurants, live entertainment sets and theme parks. He worked as a conceptual designer on various projects including mega-resort developments in and through Las Vegas.

Sue's hand-drawing style was licensed by AutoDesk, maker of AutoCAD, to create Impressions software to turn technical "DWG" drawings to a hand-rendered style. Through AutoDesk, Sue learned software development. He then created BizGym.com, an entrepreneur's growth system that combines business planning, financial forecasting and brand story development into one package.

Sue and his organizations have received multiple awards and recognitions. Bedrock Development, Inc. was named the sixth fastest-growing company in the San Francisco Bay Area by the SF Business Times, and Bizgenics Foundation, Lemonade Alley and Sue have won awards from several Hawaii-based associations including BBB Hawaii.