On November 5, 2021 the William S. Richardson School of Law Environmental Law Program (ELP) hosted its seventeenth annual, and second virtual, Enviromentors event. Seventeen students from the William S. Richardson School of Law and eighteen environmental law practitioners (enviromentors) attended the networking event. Several mentors who attended the event are Richardson alumni and hold an environmental law certificate.
ELP RA’s created several Zoom breakout rooms where students and mentors could have one-on-one conversations. Students introduced themselves and learned more about each mentor’s job. After approximately five minutes, students were moved to a new breakout room to talk with a new practitioner. Students continued to move from room to room throughout the evening to meet as many practitioners as possible.
“Environmentors is a great opportunity to network and engage with lawyers from different fields within environment law about potential internships, pro bono, and other opportunities. The mentors are very insightful and share their experience and journey within the field. The event and mentors capture the spirit of the environmental law program at Richardson and I look forward to it every year” said Grant Barring (2L). Holly Crawford (1L) added “Enviromentors gave me the chance to connect with professionals in a variety of careers that interest me. This is a great opportunity for students to find a professional connection with someone they get along with!“
After the event, ELP faculty pairs each student with a mentor. The pairing instructs students to reach out to their mentors and set up a lunch meeting to have more in-depth conversations. Several connections made in prior Enviromentor’s events have led to job opportunities for ELP students.
Next year, depending on the severity of the pandemic, ELP hopes to return to hosting the event in-person at Café Julia in downtown Honolulu. In some ways, however, it has been beneficial to host the last two Enviromentors events on Zoom as it has allowed students and mentors on neighbor islands and the continent to attend without having to travel to O‘ahu.
ELP would like to thank all the students and mentors who attended this year’s event.
2021 Enviromentors:
Kevin Chang, Executive-Director, Kua‘āina Ulu ‘Auamo (KUA)
Douglas Codiga, Member, Schlack Ito, LLLC
Hon. Jeffrey P. Crabtree, Circuit Court Judge, State of Hawai‘i
Henry Curtis, Executive Director and Vice President, Life of the Land
Shaelene Kamaka‘ala, Director of ʻĀina Protection and General Counsel, Hawaiian Islands Land Trust (HILT)
Senator Chris Lee, Hawai‘i State Senator, District 25
Leinā‘ala Ley, Senior Associate Attorney, Earthjustice
Melissa Miyashiro, Executive Director, Blue Planet Foundation
Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, Vice Chair, Maui County Council
N. Keali‘i Sagum, Legal Fellow, Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR)
Sarah J. Sheffield, Attorney-Advisor in the NOAA Office of General Counsel, Pacific Islands Section
Josh Stanbro, Policy Director, Honolulu City Council
Miranda Steed, Associate Attorney, Jon S. Jacobs, LLLC
Wayne Tanaka, Executive Director, Sierra Club of Hawai‘i
Catherine Taschner, Deputy Director, City and County of Honolulu, Department of Land Management
Onaona P. Thoene, Partner, Carlsmith Ball LLP
Imran Naeemullah, Associate, Cades Schutte LLLP
Joanna Zeigler, Associate, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
JB 12/3/21