ABOUT JENNA WAI YING CHIYEMI TAKENOUCHI
Community Roots
Jenna’s parents raised her and her sister in Pauoa Valley. Her father, Kyle, was a small business owner who ran a printshop and her mother, Colleen, had a career in sales then government. With both parents working full-time, family in Puunui generously offered childcare and the kids spent after school and summers trekking to John’s Store for spam musubi and catching the Number 13 bus. These fond memories made the area a second home and is where Jenna is grateful to reside today.
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Growing up, Jenna’s family led by example to highlight the values of hard work, responsibility, and active citizenship in community. In particular, she values her strong women role models like Grandma Lita who was one of the groundbreaking female draftsman with the Board of Water Supply and first female president to lead her family’s Chinese society Lum Sai Ho Tong.
Education
A proud product of the Hawaii public school system, Jenna attended Pauoa Elementary School, Kawananakoa Middle School, and Roosevelt High School where she made lifelong friends through band, student government, newswriting, and various clubs and event planning committees.
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Jenna attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa to earn a degree in English and had close ties to the Ethnic Studies department leading a course lab period for almost three years. Later she would return to school to further her interest in education and research by attaining a Master of Management in Library and Information Science from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.
Career and Public Service
First-Term Highlights
After the election, Jenna was appointed to serve as the Vice Chair on the Committee on Health & Homelessness where she worked to address medical workforce shortages, strengthen Hawaii’s mental health service networks, and evaluate programs to address homelessness more effectively. She additionally is a member of the Committees on Finance and Human Services.
During the aftermath of the tragic Lahaina wildfire in August 2023, Jenna co-chaired the House Schools Working Group – one of six committees convened to evaluate and recommend legislation to better prepare state response.
Jenna was also selected to participate in the 2023-24 cohort of the Milbank Memorial Fund Emerging Leaders, a competitive leadership program of state and county officials from across the nation collaborating on health equity across our communities to improve overall population health.
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Her work during her first term was recognized by the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, which named Jenna as its 2024 State Legislator of the Year from the House of Representatives.
Prior to running for elected office, Jenna worked in public relations helping local nonprofits and businesses in hospitality, finance, and retail share their stories with the people of Hawaii before finding her passion in public service. In 2012, she joined her predecessor Rep. Takashi Ohno as the office manager for 10 years, leading community outreach as well as overseeing legislative work for the House Committees on Intrastate Commerce (IAC) and Corrections, Military & Veterans (CMV). When Rep. Ohno moved on from office, Jenna realized she was not ready to move on from her commitment to the community and successfully won the seat to serve District 27 in 2022.