Kim Coco Iwamoto

Kim Coco Iwamoto is a Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives representing District 25 . Born on May 25, 1968, in Kauai, Hawaii, she is a public interest attorney, community activist, small business owner, and founder of the Chamber of Sustainable Commerce.

Iwamoto is a fourth-generation Japanese American whose paternal great-grandparents immigrated from Japan to work in the sugar cane plantations of Kauai. Her family later established Roberts Hawaii, a successful transportation and rental company. Her advocacy work began in New York City, where she volunteered at a community center supporting homeless LGBTQ+ youth. This experience inspired her to pursue law to ensure legal protections for marginalized communities. She passed the bar in 2001 and worked at Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii, coordinating free legal clinics statewide. She also became a licensed foster parent to LGBTQ+ teenagers.

Iwamoto made history as Hawaii's first openly transgender state legislator after winning her House seat in 2024, defeating longtime House Speaker Scott Saiki in the Democratic primary.

Education and Political Experience

Iwamoto earned her bachelor's degree and completed Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a David Bohnett Foundation LGBTQ Victory Institute Leadership Fellow in 2011.

Her political career includes significant milestones:

• 2006: Elected to the Hawaii State Board of Education, becoming the highest-ranking openly transgender elected official in the United States at that time
• 2010: Re-elected to the Board of Education for a second term
• Appointed as a commissioner on the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission by Governor Neil Abercrombie
• 2013: Honored by President Barack Obama as a Harvey Milk Champion of Change for her advocacy against bullying in schools
• 2018: Listed by Newsweek as one of fifty need-to-know pioneers for LGBTQ rights
• 2024: Elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives, representing District 25

Her legislative priorities focus on progressive policies addressing homelessness, government transparency, support for small business, universal healthcare, affordable housing, and economic justice.