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cover of hawaii business with ka i u kimura
The March 2020 cover of Âé¶¹´«Ã½ Business Magazine featuring Kaʻiu Kimura

University of Âé¶¹´«Ã½ employees and alumni have been honored on “20 for the Next 20” list.

The 20 people recognized on the are believed to have an important impact on Âé¶¹´«Ã½ for the next two decades. Those selected have demonstrated intelligence, charisma, leadership and passion through their accomplishments and work.

UH honorees

Lisa Doo Ayabe
UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ – alumna
Partner, Cades Schutte

After graduating from UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹¡¯s law school, Lisa Doo Ayabe clerked with Mark Recktenwald in the Intermediate Court of Appeals and in the Âé¶¹´«Ã½ Supreme Court before joining Cades Schutte as an associate. She made partner after only six years with the firm and is one of 12 female partners.

Laurie Ann Chan
UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ – alumna
Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Avalon Development Co.

Laurie Ann Chan has always been passionate about architecture, and after realizing she wanted to look at architect plans instead of drawing them, she pursued finance and marketing at UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ and interned with Avalon Development Co. during her senior year. She¡¯s been with the company ever since.

Rebecca Dayhuff Matsushima
UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ – Shidler College of Business and William S. Richardson School of Law alumna
Director of Renewable Acquisition, Hawaiian Electric Co.

Rebecca Dayhuff Matsushima grew up in Indiana, coming to Âé¶¹´«Ã½ 15 years ago to earn both a law and a business degree at UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹. After working on renewable energy projects with HECO while at Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel, she joined HECO¡¯s legal team in 2012 and was named to her current position in 2017.

Aimee Malia Grace
UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ – alumna
Director of Health Science Policy, University of Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Aimee Malia Grace earned her medical degree from UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹¡¯s John A. Burns School of Medicine and a master¡¯s in public health from Harvard. Currently, Grace is the director of health science policy at UH, where she directs the university¡¯s strategic health initiatives and federal affairs. She also leads the UHealthy Âé¶¹´«Ã½ initiative, which aims to leverage UH¡¯s health sciences programs to improve health care in the state and the Pacific.

Kaʻiu Kimura
UH Hilo – alumna
Executive Director,

At the core of her work as director of ʻImiloa in Hilo is bringing Maunakea to the forefront through educational opportunities that couple the mountain¡¯s culture and history with astronomy, Kaʻiu Kimura says. She was asked to participate in planning for ʻImiloa while a Hawaiian language graduate student at UH Hilo.

Lina Le
UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ – Shidler College of Business alumna
Enterprise Director of Human Resources, Y. Hata & Co. Ltd.

Lina Le earned her undergraduate degree and a master¡¯s degree in human resource management at UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹¡¯s Shidler College of Business. She has now been with Y. Hata for five years, before assuming her current role in July 2019. Y. Hata is a third-generation family business and her goal there has been to enhance the role of HR.

Dana Takushi
UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ – Shidler College of Business alumna
Senior Executive Vice President and Manager of the Consumer Banking Group, Bank of Hawaii

Dana Takushi majored in finance at UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ and started her career at Business Consulting Resources as an associate consultant. She joined Bank of Hawaii in 1993 and has held leadership roles in many of the bank¡¯s departments. Today, she oversees the Consumer Banking Group, which consists of branch banking and The Private Bank.

Julie Yamamoto
UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ alumna
General Operations Manager, Hui Car Share

Julie Yamamoto and Servco saw Hui Car Share as an opportunity to add customers who wanted options that were more convenient, greener and more affordable to them than traditional car ownership. For Yamamoto, building Hui Car Share came with a unique set of challenges, such as assembling a team from scratch and leading that team to do something that had never been done before.

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