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March Hawaii Business Magazine cover featuring Rachel James.

Four graduates of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law were honored as young community leaders as part of the 2021 “Twenty for the Next Twenty” cohort in the March issue of Hawaii Business Magazine.

The four include:

  • Jamie Cheng–director of commercial operations at American Savings Bank
  • Khara Jabola-Carolus–executive director, Hawaiʻi State Commission on the Status of Women
  • Summer Kaiawe–attorney and partner, Watanabe Ing
  • Rachel James–attorney, Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission

Law Dean Camille Nelson said the professional journeys of these Richardson graduates highlights the many fields available to graduates with legal expertise, and is a testament to the exceptional education they received at the UH law school.

Jamie Cheng

Cheng led her team of a dozen commercial bankers at American Savings Bank to move quickly to land loans for small businesses as part of Congress’ Paycheck Protection Program in 2020. According to the magazine, within a few weeks, the team had “handled 4,100 loans, secured $370 million in federal funds and saved an estimated 40,000 Hawaiʻi jobs.”

“Whenever something scares me I know I just have to do it,” said Cheng. “One of the most frightening things was leaving law the first time and starting my own business. But I said, ‘If I don’t do it I’ll never do it, and I will look back and be sorry.’”

Khara Jabola-Carolus

Jabola-Carolus has been a fierce advocate for women. “She led efforts during the pandemic to distribute laptops to single mothers and created a state feminist economic recovery plan in collaboration with community members,” noted the magazine. Additionally, she helped pass legislation to allow individuals to designate their gender as “X” on their driver’s licenses and for people convicted of prostitution to have their convictions erased if they met certain requirements.

Rachel James

James has focused her efforts on ensuring success for the state’s clean energy goals by 2045. “In her new role as an attorney with the Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission, James helps guide the agency in regulating local utilities and pushing them to meet the state clean energy goals,” said the magazine. As a member of the UH law school’s evening part-time program, James worked full-time as a project manager for the Hawaiʻi Center for Advanced Technologies while completing her law degree.

Summer Kaiawe

As an attorney with a mixed practice that includes business litigation, land use and intellectual property, Kaiawe’s work has attracted outside attention. “Super Lawyers named her to its Rising Stars list each year from 2017 to 2020.”

This is an example of UH Mānoa’s goal of Enhancing Student Success (PDF), one of four goals identified in the 2015–25 Strategic Plan (PDF), updated in December 2020.

For more information, see the UH law school’s website.

–By Beverly Creamer

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