SARAH SOAKAI
Sarah Soakai joined the Institute as an intern in May 2003. She graduated from
Brigham Young University-Hawaii in December of 2002, where she earned a Bachelor
of Arts degree in Political Science with a minor in History. Previously, Sarah
spent the summer of 2002 with the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies based
in Honolulu, where she researched the economic, political and social issues
among the Malays, Chinese and Indians in Malaysia. Here she studied how and
why such issues impact the relationship between ethnic groups and how these
issues also shape domestic and foreign policy in Malaysia. During her tenure
at BYU-Hawaii, Sarah served as Vice President and Chair for the Student Advisory
Council, Institutional Research Assistant for the university's Assistant to
the President, and as the Diversity Council officer for the University Honors
program where she identified and recruited prospective students of diverse backgrounds
to the program. She will continue her graduate school studies at the University
of California, San Diego, where she will be pursuing a master's degree in International
Affairs and Pacific Studies beginning in the fall 2003.
As part of her work with the Institute, Sarah is researching the legal, regulatory,
management and other systems necessary to establish and operate a tribally-controlled
tissue bank.