Government Briefing: A Conversation with Rep. Jill Tokuda

This latest in our series of Government Briefings will feature Rep. Tokuda in a fireside chat. Conducted under strict Chatham House rules, the discussion will be moderated by  USJC DC Regional Co-chair Margaret Cummisky, who is managing director of federal government affairs at Hawaiian Airlines. The dialogue will cover security and other important issues in the context of U.S.-Japan relations.

Please note that this event has an in-person attendance capacity of 35. Invited guests will be granted attendance on a fist-come-first-serve basis.

Featured Speaker

Rep. Jill Tokuda (HI-02)

Rep. Tokuda represents Hawai`i’s Second Congressional District, serving in the 118th Congress since November 2022. She serves on the Committee on Agriculture, Committee on Armed Services and Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. 

Rep. Tokuda was selected to serve as Vice Chair for Communications for the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Freshman Representative for the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and Region 2 Whip.

From 2006-2018, she represented Kaneohe and Kailua in the Hawai`i State Senate. As Ways and Means Chair, Jill balanced the state’s $14 billion budget and approved all fiscal and tax measures at the Hawai`i State Legislature. She also championed legislation that established the state’s first Executive Office on Early Learning and funded the Hawai`i Keiki Program to provide access to health services in public schools. Jill also passed enabling legislation that allowed for Important Agricultural Lands to be designated and protected. 

Rep. Tokuda was the first in her family to go to college. She earned a BA in international relations with a minor in Japanese studies at George Washington University. 

Margaret Cummisky (Moderator)
Managing Director, Federal Government Affairs, Hawaiian Airlines

Margaret Cummisky is the Managing Director, Federal Government Affairs, at Hawaiian Airlines.  Prior to joining Hawaiian Airlines, she served as Assistant Secretary for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce; Deputy Staff Director and General Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations; Staff Director and Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; and Legislative Director for U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii.

Ms. Cummisky earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a law degree from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.