HSTA’s new UniServ Director brings union, law, public policy experience

The Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association is pleased to introduce Jolyn Garidan Prieto as the newest Leeward Chapter UniServ Director. Her first day at the union was June 16.

Prieto brings experience in government relations, communications, and labor relations to her new role.

Born and raised in Honolulu, Prieto attended Saint Theresa Catholic School from kindergarten through 8th grade and graduated from Saint Francis School. She then attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa where she majored in political science and public policy.

While earning her undergraduate degree, she worked in the promotions department at Cox Radio Hawaiʻi, now known as SummitMedia Hawai’i, which runs a family of radio stations in the islands. She went on to attend graduate school to earn her master’s degree in public policy and indigenous politics at UH Mānoa while working for the Hawaiʻi State Legislature as a committee clerk and legislative researcher to help pay for her degree.

During her time at the Capitol, she helped support the Public Safety & Military Affairs Committee and the Ocean Marine Resources & Hawaiian Affairs Committee. Her responsibilities included conducting research for lawmakers to introduce bills and resolutions; composing bill digests; writing floor speeches, neighborhood board reports, and community newsletters; and assisting with grants-in-aid.

Soon after graduating with her master’s degree, Prieto began working at the Hawaiʻi Fire Fighters Association, the union representing roughly 3,000 active-duty and retired firefighters throughout Hawai’i’s state airports and county fire departments. She spent nine years at HFFA.

At the firefighters union, Prieto started as an operations assistant and transitioned to working in communications, government relations, and most recently served as the labor and government relations specialist. She helped with issues such as changing working conditions, government lobbying, and contract negotiations and represented HFFA on the UH-West Oahu’s Labor Education Advisory Council. She also helped manage the union’s communication through newsletter-writing and social media.

While never setting out to work at a union, Prieto comes from a strong union background. Her grandparents were International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) members who worked on the sugar and pineapple plantations on Hawaiʻi Island, Maui, and Oʻahu. After working for the firefighters union, she says transitioning to HSTA felt like a good fit.

In her new role, she looks forward to “building relationships and engaging with the teachers to not only learn about their concerns and their challenges but to also find ways to support them.”

Prieto wants to advocate for educators with HSTA in part because her aunts and several cousins are educators.

“Learning and education were always important and always, always stressed in our household. For me, when you support teachers, you support the next generation, because they (teachers) have the ability to open a student’s mind, have them explore, and discover what their passion is,” she said.

Prieto fills the Leeward UD position vacated by Ilima Long, who is taking a new job as editor-researcher at ILWU Local 142, where she will support and develop communications and educational programs. Prieto joins HSTA UniServ Director Justin Jansen in representing educators in our Leeward Chapter.

Prieto currently studies law at UH Mānoa’s William S. Richardson School of Law with a focus on labor and nonprofit law, and plans to graduate next spring.

She also serves as a board member of Aloha Harvest, the largest food rescue and redistribution organization in the state, and serves on the Alzheimer’s Association-Hawaiʻi’s Public Policy & Advocacy Committee.

When she’s not working or studying, Prieto enjoys spending time at coffee shops, reading, and taking care of her rescue dog and cats.