In 1943, the Hawaii Junior Chamber of Commerce was formed with former Honolulu Junior Chamber President R. Allen Watkins as the organization’s first president. Dynamic and constructive action made the junior chamber movement in Hawaii invaluable to every phase of local life, and many projects have become local institutions: the 50th State Fair, the Hawaii County Fair in Hilo, the Cherry Blossom Festival and Pageant, the Miss Chinatown Hawaii and the Narcissus Queen pageants, and Aloha Week.

In 1976 the organization officially changed its name to the Hawaii Jaycees. The Hawaii Jayceettes were established in 1979. A landmark 1984 United States Supreme Court decision finally allowed women to be formally allowed into the organization, and in 1987, Brenda Yee was elected as the first female president of the Hawaii Jaycees.