Congratulations to our new AICPs!
The APA Hawaii Chapter would like to recognize the following individuals who recently received their AICP certification. Please join us in congratulating our new AICPs!
Carah Kadota, AICP
Carah Kadota is a planner specializing in land use entitlements and environmental compliance documents for both public and private sector projects. She had an unconventional start to her planning career, having received her Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and from there starting her career at SSFM International, Inc. as a project coordinator. Rather than pursue a career in architecture, Carah was able to gain experience with SSFM’s planning group and became interested in the diverse field of planning – and she is glad she chose this path. She is currently starting the next chapter of her career at Bowers + Kubota and is excited to join the team.
Although she does not have a planning degree, she is glad she gained the experience necessary to take the AICP exam and hopes that it encourages others who are on the fence, or those who may have a different educational background, to consider planning as a career and aim to get certified!
Alexander Yee, AICP
Alexander Yee serves as the Coastal and Water Program Manager within the City and County of Honolulu's Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency. He returned to Hawaiʻi to join the City and the Resilience Office in March 2021. Prior to joining the office, he worked in the Sea Level Rise unit for the California Coastal Commission, where he worked with numerous coastal city governments to enact sea level rise adaptation policies. With the office, Alex is leading development of the City’s climate adaptation strategy: Climate Ready Oʻahu. Alex has been active with APA at the national level, Vice-Chairing NPC22, serving as student liaison to the AICP Commission, and as Region VI Representative on the Students Representatives Council Executive Committee. He holds a masters in Urban Planning from the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy, and a BA in International Relations and Chinese from Tufts University.