Finalists Selected for the UH Board of Regents Maui Seats

By Sonia Isotov

The Regents Candidate Advisory Council (RCAC) has presented a list of candidates to Gov. Neil Abercrombie to fill four seats on the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, including three finalists for Maui County seat.

Sherilee K. Dodson, Georgia K. McMillen, and Saedene K. Ota are the finalists selected by the RCAC for the one seat open representing Maui County. The term would begin immediately upon Senate consent and confirmation.

Sherrilee (Sherri) K. Dodson, a 34 year Maui residents, is a graduate of the University of Hawaii, holds a BA in Political Science and a law degree from Western State Law School. Dodson has served on the 1990 Maui County Charter Commission, State Salary Commission, Governor’s Task Force on Barriers to Affordable Housing, Habitat for Humanity Maui, Hawaii Public Housing Authority and the Maui Non-Profit Director’s Association board. She volunteers for the National Kidney Foundation, Hawai’i Organ Donor Center and is a certified Mediator with Mediation Services of Maui. Dodson worked with the Law Offices of Jan K. Apo for 12 years and then practiced Immigration Law as a sole practitioner.

Georgia K. McMillen is a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools and the University of Hawaii, and holds a law degree from the New York Law School. As an attorney, Dodson has extensive experience serving the indigent in criminal matters and appellate litigation. She provides pro bono legal services through the Volunteer Legal Services of Hawaii’, is a longtime member of the Outreach Program at Maui’s Keawala’i Congregational Church, which provides financial assistance to those in need. In addition to her legal practice, she has served as adjunct faculty at Hawai’i Pacific University and University of Hawai’i Maui College.

Saedene Ota, is the Owner & Creative Director of Sae Design a 6 employee graphics firm focusing on branding, packaging, web design and strategic marketing. In only a decade of business, Ms. Ota has garnered a bevy of creative awards including 2 Hawai’i Advertising Federation Pele Best of Show recognitions and Advertising Women of the Year, 18 Pele Awards and 44 Pele Recognitions, as well as receiving national recognition for projects completed in the hospitality and food industries. In 2005 she was honored with the U.S. Small Business Administration, Small Business Advocate of the Year “Women in Business Champion.” She is also the owner of Maui Thing, a lifestyle apparel retail located in Wailuku. Ms. Ota’s community activities include board involvement with the Maui Board of Economic Development, American Institute of Graphic Arts, Hawai’i State Art Museum, Maui Young Business Round Table, Maui Memorial Medical Center Foundation, and A Keiki’s Dream.

Other finalists for the four seats include

City and County of Honolulu (2 seats for terms beginning July 1, 2011)

(Note: Regent Howard Karr, current chair of the Board of Regents, did not apply for reappointment)

• Terri T. Fujii
• Mark H. Fukunaga
• Coralie C. Matayoshi
• Dale F. Saito
• Jan N. Sullivan
• Keith M. Vieira

Hawai’i County (1 seat for term beginning July 1, 2011)

• Carl A. Carlson, Jr.
• Sandra W. Scarr

Members of the UH Board of Regents, as well as the Regents Candidate Advisory Council, who represent various constituent groups, serve voluntarily and are not paid.