WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE MANOA ALUMNI? Here at Manoa, your achievements extend beyond your degree of completion. The connections you make, the communities you develop, the professors you encounter that nurture your growth provide the foundational stepping stones to propel you to great things on and beyond our campus. The success of a graduate stands at the core of our mission. We connected with our recent alumni to learn more about their experiences. With a variety of backgrounds, selection of career choice and path to success, one thing is certain - our alumni are proud to have been Made at Manoa.
The University of Hawai‘i at Manoa has over 204,000 alumni living in dozens of countries around the world! Here are a few fun and interesting facts about our UHM-azing alumni around the globe.
204K
ALUMNI WORLDWIDE!
59%
39%
2%
Hawai‘i
Continental U.S.
Abroad
ALUMNI IN HAWAI‘I
129
Different Countries
ALUMNI IN U.S. REGIONS
2%
Midwest
85% 87%
13%
O‘ahu
Neighbor Island
West
4%
Northeast
2%
South
TOP 5 U.S. STATES IN WHICH ALUMNI RESIDE (EXCLUDING HAWAI‘I)
TOP 5 COUNTRIES IN WHICH ALUMNI RESIDE (EXCLUDING U.S.)
Washington 5,345
Japan 1,324
Canada 339
Oregon 2,354
S. Korea 425
Florida 2,674
California 20,246
TOP 5 U.S. CITIES IN WHICH ALUMNI ARE EMPLOYED Honolulu, HI 21%
San Francisco, CA 5%
Seattle, WA 3%
China
Vietnam 572
Texas 3,157
431
TOP COMPANIES IN WHICH ALUMNI ARE EMPLOYED
Los Angeles, CA 4%
New York City, NY 5%
Amazon
Korean Air
Bank of Hawaii
Nordstrom
Boeing
State of Hawai‘i
Hawaii State DOE
University of Hawai‘i
Kaiser
U.S. Geological Survey
TOP 5 U.S. STATES MAJORS
Liberal Arts 16,257
Psychology 9,033
Accounting 8,068
Elementary Education 7,078
Business Administration 6,289
COURTNEY CHOY Miss Hawaii 2021 BBA, UH Manoa, 2018; Juris Doctor, 2021. Honolulu, Hawai‘i
My advice to any incoming student is to truly embrace all the opportunities UH Mānoa provides its students. Every opportunity – whether it is meeting a new person, visiting the lo‘i, an internship, or enrolling in a new course offering – is an opportunity for growth and learning. Once you become involved in the community, especially in an island community like Hawai‘i, you start to realize the importance of service and the personal value you bring to any situation.” Courtney Choy was crowned Miss Hawaii 2021 two days after participating in commencement activities for her juris doctorate diploma from UH Manoa’s William S. Richardson School of Law. She aims to use her platform to speak out on behalf of women and girls—to empower them, and build their belief in themselves.
BRADY EVANS Comic Artist and Illustrator BFA Art; Minor in Japanese, 2012 Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Try different experiences and classes in your time at UH, you never know what might pique your interest and lead you down a different path. I have many friends who started at UH set on one major then switched after they took a few classes from another discipline. Keep an open mind and enjoy your time there.” Brady Evans is a comic artist and illustrator based in Honolulu. Born and raised in Hawai‘i, Brady draws inspiration from folklore, family stories and history and has been featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions. Follow Brady’s design work on Instagram @daawgo www.bradyevans.com
VALERIE KAN Digital Marketing Manager at Universal Pictures BS Travel Industry Management, 2016 Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Don’t be afraid to explore opportunities outside of your major. Apply for any and all internships or jobs that look even remotely interesting to you—you never know where you might end up!” Originally from Irvine, California, Valerie Kan’s impressive resume began while she was a student on the UH Mānoa campus. Her tenacity and drive to gain valuable experiences through internships in event planning, set precedent for her dream job in social media right out of college at Think Jam. She rose through the ranks as a Publicity Assistant, Account Executive then Senior Account Executive in Social Media, then eventually joined Paramount Pictures as a manager for International Digital Marketing. Today, she is manager for Global Digital Marketing at Universal Pictures where her position has taken her around the world on red carpet premieres and on media campaign tours.
DIALLO JACKSON Author MA English, UH Manoa, 1997 Santa Monica, CA After spending some time in the tech world, Diallo Jackson decided to fully pursue his lifelong passion for writing. Diallo went on to write the comic book series Angela and the Dark and The Paranormals. He is also the writer of 2017 Producer’s Guild winning Weekend Shorts short film Beautiful Strangers. Along with published novels The Claymore and the science fiction serialized novel Maya, he has also written for a number of internationally recognized publications including Yahoo! Games, US Weekly and Geek & Sundry.
My time at UH will always be special to me. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe I was actually able to not only experience it but excel there. One thing that I loved the most about the UH campus and culture is that unlike other schools, the makeup of the student population was effortlessly multi-cultural from top to bottom, faculty, staff, and students.”
JADE VORSTER BA Chemistry, UH Manoa, 2014 Boca Raton, FL
I knew that I would have the support and resources to achieve greatness both academically and athletically at UH, but it was the ability to do so in a humble, down-to-earth environment that made UH so unique. That is why I ultimately chose UH. When I first visited UH, I knew it felt like family.” After earning her pre-medical degree from UH, former Wahine Volleyball player Jade Vorster went on to Liberty University where she received her master’s degree in public health. She then went on to medical school at Florida Atlantic University. In 2017, she was commissioned as an Officer in the United States Navy Reserves under the Health Professions Scholarship Program. Jade graduated from medical school in spring 2021 and will start a five year General Surgery Residency Program at Baylor College of Medicine. Upon completion of residency, she will spend four years as an active duty general surgeon in the Navy.
TRACI YOSHIYAMA Founder & Designer, Talking Story Creative Studio MPA Public Administration, UH Manoa, 2015; BEd Elementary Education, UH Manoa, 2007 Nairobi, Kenya Originally from Hilo, Hawai’i, Traci Yoshiyama is the founder and designer behind Talking Story Creative Studio. Prior to her work in design she spent eight years in the non-profit sector both in program and grants management. Her time at UH provided her with the experiences and grit necessary to becoming a successful designer and business owner. Traci currently splits her time between Hawai‘i and Nairobi. Follow Traci’s design work on Instagram @talkingstory.design www.talkingstory.design
To be surrounded by such a diverse community and lifestyle is very special and unique to Mānoa – and this is exactly what I was looking for. I’ve been away from home for over a decade now and I realize how fortunate I am to have been able to attend Mānoa and spend almost 10 years in Honolulu. These formative years really shaped who I am today.”
CHRISTOPHER NGUYEN Program Manager at Microsoft BA Information & Computer Sciences, UH Manoa, 2018 San Jose, California
What I valued most about my time at UH was the diverse groups of people that I have met throughout my college journey. In comparison to other universities, UH Mānoa does have a lot of general education requirements for graduation. I took this opportunity to take fun classes and meet new people from different backgrounds and majors—Some whom I am still close friends with today.” After graduating from UH Manoa in 2018, Christopher spent two years at IBM as a Software Developer for Watson Studio, a Data Science toolkit on the IBM Cloud. He is currently a Program Manager at Microsoft with the mission of empowering all students with an equal opportunity to learn Computer Science.
WAVERLY HEURTELOU Technical Recruiter; Cruise BBA Human Resource Management, UH Manoa, 2017 San Francisco, CA Originally from the Bay Area, Waverly chose UH Manoa because of the diverse student body, great business school program and for the opportunity to step outside of her comfort zone. She is now a technical recruiter for Cruise, a company working on building a self-driving rideshare service.
What I love the most about my job as a technical recruiter is being able to help candidates find their dream job and setting them up for success throughout the interview process. I work for Cruise which is a company working on building a self-driving rideshare service so it’s been really exciting to be at the forefront of what transportation will look like in the future.”
DANNY SEPKOWSKI Photographer BA Psychology, UH Manoa, 2008 MEd Educational Administration, UH Manoa, 2011 Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Being a professional photographer allows me to enjoy nature and spread aloha around the world. Being published in National Geographic and doing work for Oakley has been a great experience, but what I enjoy more nowadays is helping people improve their photography skills.” Danny Sepkowski is an award-winning photographer whose photographs have been featured in National Geographic, Canon, and the Smithsonian. His short film “A-Frame” is also gaining international attention. Danny’s aim is to continuously engage not only the visual part of our senses, but to stimulate our innermost passions and desires through his art.
EMILY GOMES Structural Engineer at the Boeing Company BS Civil Engineering, UH Mānoa, 2012 Bothell, Washington
I chose engineering because I liked math, but my time at UH taught me the fun aspect of engineering is solving real problems and coming up with innovative solutions. My professors focused on building a solid foundation of understanding, and provided opportunities to apply it in exciting and challenging projects. I use those skills every day to integrate aircraft wing assemblies, analyze flight load effects on wing structure, and optimize parts for weight, strength, and manufacturing.” Emily was born and raised in K āne‘ohe. While a student, she was active in the Society of Women Engineers at UH Mānoa. She was accepted as a summer intern at Boeing and is now a structural engineer at The Boeing Company. She has worked on a wide range of wing edges structures and components including flap supports, wing landing gear doors, flaps and fixed panels.
DANIEL CHUN Director of Sales, Community & Public Relations – Hawai‘i; Alaska Airlines BS Travel Industry Management, UH Manoa, 2002 Honolulu, Hawai‘i Daniel Chun’s extensive knowledge of Hawai‘i’s tourism industry stems from his years at Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau and then as the State of Hawai’i’s governor-appointed tourism liaison. He brought that knowledge and experience with him to his position at Alaska Airlines in 2011 as their Regional Manager of Sales and Community Marketing where he helped with the successful merger with Virgin America. He was promoted to Director of Sales, Community & Public Relations in 2017.
My time at UH really helped me to learn about myself. I had a few prospective majors before I landed at the university’s School of Travel Industry Management. It was there that I really found my home and a place where I felt that I belonged.”
DOORAE SHIN Freelance Consultant, Hawai‘i Impact Collaborative BA Interdisciplinary Studies, UH Manoa, 2015 Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Being born and raised in Pennsylvania made me crave a new experience that would make me grow as a person and expose me to more of the world. UH Mānoa was the perfect fit, and I felt right at home from the day I landed. Ten years later, I am still here, growing my career in environmental advocacy and connecting deeply with my friends and community on O‘ahu.” Doorae Shin has roots in environmental activism at UH where she, in conjunction with the Surfrider Foundation, gathered signatures to ban styrofoam food packaging at any of the ten UH campus dining locations. She has also worked for the Kokua Hawai‘i Foundation as their Plastic Free Hawai‘i Program Manager. After working as the O‘ahu Chapter Coordinator at Surfrider Foundation, she is now a Freelance Consultant for Hawai‘i Impact Collaborative.
1-877-UH-ALUMS (toll-free) uhalumni.org contact@uhalumni.org facebook.com/uhmanoa instagram.com/uhalumni twitter.com/uhalumni youtube.com/universityofhawaii
Visit us! Experience a campus tour by calling 808-956-7137 or visituhm@hawaii.edu “Made At Manoa” Typography: Erica Kunihisa ‘12 Born and raised in Mililani, Erica lives, breathes and even sweats design. She earned her BFA in 2012 at University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, and currently is freelancing in Portland, Oregon. In her free time, she enjoys hikes, movies and concerts. Follow her exploits on Instagram at @ekunihisa. “HI Beach Days” Pattern: Traci Yoshiyama ‘07, ‘15 Traci is a visual designer with a special love for surface design. She was born and raised in Hilo and currently lives in Nairobi. HI Beach Days was inspired by the happy nostalgia of lazing on the beach with nothing to do, but enjoy the sun, food and beautiful blue Pacific Ocean. Follow Traci’s design work on Instagram @talkingstory.design or online at www.talkingstory.design
The University of Hawai‘i at Manoa is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution.