Kapri is a third-year student at the University of Hawaiʻi’s William S. Richardson School of Law and a Ph.D. in Education Foundations, Transformative Education candidate. She comes from the red dirt-stained, manure-smelling, heat-enclosed Waipi’o Flats of the Central Side on the island of O’ahu. Her story is grounded in the humble origins of her immigrant ancestors, who left behind all they knew to settle in Hawaiʻi from the Philippines and Japan to work on plantations, and in her Native Hawaiian ancestors, who cultivated loʻi kalo on Maui to sustain their families—their struggles, resilience, and triumphs forming the foundation of her journey. She currently serves as a Kawailoa Opportunity for Youth Action Hawaiʻi policy intern and as a Family Court Child Welfare Research Assistant. Her legal experience includes work with Circuit Court Judge Somerville and the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Law Library, externing and providing pro bono services with the Office of the Public Defender, and interning with Clay Iwamura Pulice & Nervell as well as with Gilbert C. Doles, Esq. Kapri is deeply committed to advancing social justice for Hawaiʻi’s marginalized communities—especially children. She dedicated nearly a decade to serving as an educator in various roles at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama, including their Summer School and Kū Mauna Freshmen Orientation programs. She has held multiple roles in San Diego, California elementary and middle schools and served in multiple positions with the University of San Diego’s Youth Engagement Initiative Tutor Program during her undergraduate and graduate studies there.

Research Interests

Kapri’s academic and professional interests span Education Policy and Administration, as well as Criminal and Family Law. She aspires to reform Hawaiʻi’s public interest laws and education system through culturally grounded approaches that uplift and serve Hawaiʻi’s keiki. Her second-year law school seminar paper examined how Hawaiʻi might integrate more culturally responsive educational initiatives into its youth incarceration system, drawing on comparative insights from New Zealand. Kapri intends to continue building on this work throughout her Ph.D. journey.

Ph.D. Track

Foundations of Transformative Education

COE Affiliation

Educational Foundations