Dawn Amano-Ige (born March 30, 1959) is an American educator who was the

first lady of Hawaii First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

as the wife of governor

David Ige David Yutaka Ige (; 伊芸豊, ''Ige Yutaka'', born January 15, 1957) is an American politician and engineer who served as the eighth governor of Hawaii from 2014 to 2022. A Democrat, he served in the Hawaii State Senate from 1994 to 2014 and ...

Early life and education

Ige (née Amano) graduated from

James Campbell High School James Campbell High School (JCHS) is a public high school, public high school located at 91-980 North Road in the Ewa Beach, Hawaii, Ewa Beach neighborhood of City and County of Honolulu, Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawaii, United States.2000 map: - Comp ...

. She earned her bachelor's degree in journalism from the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

and master's in business administration from

Chaminade University of Honolulu Chaminade University of Honolulu is a private Marianist university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. Founded in 1955 by the Society of Mary, Chaminade is located in Kaimuki, Honolulu at the base of St. Louis Heights. Chaminade offers bachel ...

Career

Prior to serving as

First Lady of Hawaii First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, Ige was a vice principal at Kanoelani Elementary School in

Waipahu, Hawaii Waipahu () is a former sugarcane Sugar plantations in Hawaii, plantation town and now census-designated place (CDP) located in the Ewa District on the island of Oahu, Oahu in the Honolulu County, Hawaii, City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawai ...

. Before pursuing elementary education, Ige worked as a marketing director for Kapiolani Health Care Systems and a public relations account executive.

First Lady of Hawaii

Ige advocated for child nutrition and literacy efforts. In 2018, Ige led the launch of the

Hawaii State Department of Education The Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE, ) is a statewide public education system in the United States. The school district can be thought of as analogous to the school districts of other cities and communities in the United States, ...

's Jump Start Breakfast program to encourage morning meals. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, she worked with the public schools to provide free meals and with nonprofits to create meal kits for families. She continues to serve on the national No Kid Hungry Leadership Council. In 2019, Ige also launched the Ohana Readers literacy program in partnership with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and the

Hawaii State Public Library System The Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS) is the only statewide public library, public library system in the United States. The system has 51 libraries on all the major Hawaiian Islands: Hawaii (island), Big Island of Hawaii, Kauai, Kauai, ...

, offering free books mailed to families with children under 5 living on

Molokai Molokai or Molokai ( or ; Molokaʻi dialect: Morotaʻi ) is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its g ...

Lanai Lānai is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The island's on ...

, and parts of

Kauai Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...

and

Hawaii Island Hawaii is the largest island in the United States, located in the state of Hawaii, the southernmost state in the union. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of ...

. She also led the restoration of the second floor of

Washington Place Washington Place is a Greek Revival palace in the Hawaii Capital Historic District in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was where Queen Liliuokalani was arrested during the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Later it became the official residence of the go ...

and the creation of its website, . For Washington Place’s 175th anniversary in 2022, Ige hosted celebrations, tours, and educational programs, including a large keiki hula. She is considering a political run in the future.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ige, Dawn Living people First ladies and gentlemen of Hawaii American educators of Japanese descent 1959 births 21st-century American women