Summer Disaster Relief Internship Program

Training up the next generation of community and social justice-oriented legal advocates

In summer 2025, PONO Legal launched a one-of-a-kind legal training experience for law and college students interested in practicing disaster law and working in the disaster relief, recovery, and resilience space. PONO Legal’s inaugural Summer Disaster Relief Internship engaged three interns with deep connections to the Maui community for eight weeks in person, from June 2 to July 25. 

PONO Legal’s Disaster Relief Internship aimed to prepare emerging legal advocates for a career in disaster law and recovery by providing practical, non-litigation “lawyering” experience in the context of the August 2023 Maui wildfires. Through this program, interns had the opportunity to:

  • Learn substantive and procedural aspects of disaster law, including discrete legal services

  • Build fundamental legal research, writing, analysis, and oral advocacy skills

  • Work directly with impacted community members and hear their stories

  • Learn from key community leaders, organizations, and decision-makers working on Maui’s disaster relief and recovery efforts

  • Participate in regular community service and mālama ʻāina activities

  • Engage in policy research, development, and advocacy (and)

  • Network with other legal professionals and scholars

2025 Summer Disaster Relief Interns

  • Lenei Naipo

    LAW STUDENT INTERN

    Lenei is a 2L at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and has a passion for kū‘ē lawyering as an alaka‘i for ‘Ahahui o Hawai‘i- Advocates for Native Hawaiian Justice. She holds a Master of Education in Teaching from UH Mānoa, a B.A. in Writing from University of California, San Diego, and was a kumu in both the public school and Hawaiian charter school sectors for five years.

  • Lynzee Borchers

    COLLEGE STUDENT INTERN

    Lynzee Borchers was born and raised on Maui, growing up in the communities of Haʻikū and Makawao. A 2024 graduate of Haleakalā Waldorf School, she is currently a second-year undergraduate student at the University of San Francisco, majoring in Political Science and minoring in Environmental Studies. Lynzee is passionate about social justice, environmental justice, and uplifting community voices through policy and advocacy.

  • Leiʻohu Turley

    COLLEGE STUDENT INTERN

    Leiʻohu was born and raised on Maui, specifically in Pukalani and Waikapū. She was raised in the Kula Kaiapuni program on Maui until high school where she graduated from Seabury Hall. Currently, she is a second year student at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire studying both Government and Native American and Indigenous Studies.

About the 2025 Program

The first few weeks of the program oriented and grounded interns to Maui’s unique community by focusing on Hawaiʻi history, the multi-faceted story of Lahaina, and the social, political, and cultural context surrounding the Maui fires. They also learned about the fundamental principals and values of community lawyering, and the critical mental health aspects of disaster law and relief work.

The following weeks focused on a different areas of law implicated by disasters, including insurance and financial planning, landlord-tenant and housing issues, employment law and consumer issues, immigration, tax, probate, and estate planning. The interns read and discussed over 100 articles related to the fires, its impacts, and disaster law resources, as well as tabled at Kākoʻo Resource Center in Kahului and Lahaina Resource Center in Lahaina two times per week. They also participated in mālāma ‘āna activities, twice with Kaiāulu Initiatives and once with Mauna Kahālāwai Watershed Partnership. 

Interns attended community events weekly, including: Lahaina In-person Community Meetings, a Hazard Mitigation meeting hosted by MEMA, a Lahaina Town Commercial Area Street Connectivity & Mobility community open house and workshop event, a Filipino Immigration Food Drive hosted by Pacific Gateway Center, Palengke Night hosted by Kaibigan ng Lāhaina, several Bill 9 Hearings/Deliberations of the County Council and community advocacy by Lāhainā Strong, a Grant Writing Workshop hosted by Maui County, and a Know Your Rights (COFA community) Training with Roots Reborn.

One of the most impactful aspects of our program was guest lectures from over 30+ community partners leading Maui’s disaster recovery and future resilience. The speakers deepened the interns’ understanding of the diverse relief and recovery efforts occurring on Maui, facilitated networking opportunities, and inspired further interest in this field.

Through this program, our interns made meaningful contributions to our island’s current recovery efforts, and also moved us forward in disaster preparedness and resilience. If you’d like to learn more about our interns’ experiences, please check out our PONO Legal Blog to read through their summer internship reflections!

Support Future Programs

If you are interested in supporting future programs, please visit our Donate page to make a contribution. You can request that your proceeds go directly to develop and facilitation of future disaster law and relief training opportunities!

As we look forward to next year, we’d like to ask: How or where do you see this program growing? What are some aspirations you have for future programs? How can we garner further support for this and other educational/training programs?

If you would like to provide feedback or inquire about partnering for future opportunities, please reach out to us on our website using the Volunteer/Partnership form. Mahalo nui for your ongoing support!