Ogura has worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service for 14 years. She worked for the late US Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink and for non-profits acquiring lands for the NPS and supported international conservation efforts in more than 10 countries. She was the planner for the Hawaii Wildlife Action Plan and managed the Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife’s Watershed Partnerships program, which involved over 60 public-private landowners/partners.

In her role, Ogura will oversee a site dedicated to telling the history of incarceration, martial law, and the experience of prisoners of war in Hawaii during World War II. It will be a place to reflect on wartime experiences. She has often reflected on how if she had been born a generation earlier, she and her mother would have been sent to an incarceration site such as Honouliuli.

Ogura was born and raised on the Hawaiian island of Oahu and graduated from Punahou School. She received her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations in 1997 from Claremont McKenna College in California.

Upon graduation, she moved to Washington, DC, where she worked as a legislative assistant for the late Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink. She then left government to pursue opportunities in the non-profit sector, first with the National Park Trust, and then with Conservation International.

In 2003, she earned her Master of Science in Natural Resource Policy and Behavior with a focus on collaborative natural resource management and conflict resolution from the University of Michigan. She returned to Hawaii to apply her experience, education, and training toward supporting conservation locally.

In 2010, she joined the USFWS as a planner with the Hawaiian and Pacific Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex. She is currently the Deputy Assistant Regional Director for the Pacific Region USFWS National Wildlife Refuge System based out of Portland, Oregon.

Ogura also served on 2 non-profit boards – the Pacific Seabird Group and Ohu Ohu Koolau Inc., which supports watershed conservation.

She has volunteered her time to facilitate strategic planning for the Friends of Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge and the Honolulu Museum of Arts. She also volunteered with the County of Honolulu’s K-9 Urban Search and Rescue group.

Throughout her career, Ogura has mentored others while serving in programs.

Programs such as the Directorate Fellows Program, Stepping up to Leadership, Hispanic Access Foundation, the Knauss Fellowship, and the Department of Interior’s (DOI) women’s mentoring program. More recently she is leading an effort with the DOI Federal Asian Pacific American Council to develop a mentoring pilot initiative.

She looks forward to moving back home and working with others to share the stories of this important site.