Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Chloe Lantayao. To Lantayao’s left are Shirley Ramirez and Pam Young, her Accounting Division mentors.
Chloe Lontayao, a Spring 2017 UH West Oʻahu graduate, was honored last week for her work as a Poʻokela Fellows Intern for the City and County of Honolulu.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell presented Lontayao with a certificate of recognition for her work during an internship that ran from January to May. Lontayao worked in the Accounting Division of the Honolulu’s Department of Budget and Fiscal Services and has since been hired as a full-time contract worker in the department.
“With my UH West Oʻahu education I didn’t feel blindsided going into this internship,” said Lontayao, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting. “I felt I was prepared.”
Lontayao’s internship duties included learning the City and County’s accounting system and helping to run reports on funds, reviewing accounting documents and financial statements, and reconciling a bank account.
Mayor Caldwell and Kyle Tokuda
The City and County of Honolulu partners with local colleges and universities to offer internships through the Poʻokela Fellows program. Interns are mentored by a City and County leader and given work assignments. Internship candidates must be enrolled in a degree program, have completed 60 credits and be in good academic standing.
Also attending the ceremony was Kyle Tokuda, a UH West Oʻahu graduate who was a Poʻokela Fellows Intern in 2016. Tokuda graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration with a concentration in General Public Administration last year. He is now employed at the City and County’s Department of Facility Maintenance.
Lontayao said she may not be done with her UH West Oʻahu education just yet. She wants to take the Certified Public Accountant exam and has heard UH West Oʻahu is starting a course to help prepare students for the CPA exam. She said she plans to soon contact Professor Franklin Kudo, and Associate Professor Katie Landgraf (her faculty advisor) regarding the course.