Meet Our Staff
Dina Shek, JD
Legal Director
Dina Shek is a licensed attorney in the state of Hawai‘i. She is a proud graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law where she currently serves as a Faculty Specialist. Prior to entering law school in 2003, she spent nearly ten years as a community organizer, educator and advocate for social and community justice. She also has extensive development and fundraising experience, all of it on behalf of the public sector. Dina holds a Master of Arts degree from San Francisco State University in Ethnic Studies (Asian American Studies). In 2012, Dina was named the Rhoda Lewis Award recipient presented by the Hawai‘i Women’s Legal Foundation, and she received the Distinguished Service Award from the Japanese American Citizens League (Honolulu Chapter) for her work with Micronesian communities in Hawai‘i. Hawai‘i Business Magazine recently featured Dina as one of their “20 for the Next 20: People to Watch in 2013.”
Alicia Turlington, MD
Medical Director
Alicia Turlington graduated from Providence College with a Bachelor of Science. She next attended the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California for her MD. She completed her pediatric residency training through the University of Hawai‘i at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children. During her residency, Alicia worked closely with the Medical-Legal Partnership for Children in Hawai‘i at Kokua Kalihi Valley alongside co-founder Dr. Chris Derauf. After serving as Chief Resident at the University of Hawai‘i, she began working full-time at Kokua Kalihi Valley and serving as the MLPC Medical Director. Alicia is also an Instructor in the Dept. of Pediatrics at the John A. Burns School of Medicine. Her interests lie in advocating for children in poverty and social justice aspects of medical care.
Philios Uruman
Community and Policy Advocate
Philios Uruman is from Fananu Island in Chuuk, Federated of Micronesia. At the age of eleven, Philios left Chuuk with his family and settled in Waianae on the island of Oahu, Hawaiʻi. Growing up, he acted as an interpreter in his family, assisting them with communicating when accessing basic services, seeking employment, and in other activities that required the use of English. These experiences helped Philios realize the pressing need for interpreters in the community, leading him to pursue a career as a professional interpreter of the Chuukese language.
Philios currently serves as the Community & Policy Advocate for the Medical-Legal Partnership for Children in Hawai’i, where he supports MLPC client families and engages in community education and systemic advocacy work. He previously worked with Language Services Hawaiʻi as a Project Manager and Interpreter. Philios is also a co-founder of N.O.H.N.O., a consulting and advocacy group serving Micronesians abroad. He is a highly respected interpreter and translator, policy advocate, and cultural consultant, and he has worked with a wide range of organizations in Hawaiʻi, the U.S. mainland, and the Pacific region.
Ashley Kaono
Staff Attorney
Ashley serves as a Staff Attorney at the Medical Legal Partnership for Children in Hawai‘i representing clients across a variety of legal matters including consumer protections, disability rights, housing, family law, and public benefits. Ashley is also a graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law where she was an Ulu Lehua Scholar.
Deja Ostrowski, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Deja Ostrowski is a Staff Attorney with the Medical-Legal Partnership Hawaiʻi ("MLP"). Ms. Ostrowski's practice with MLP addresses the complex social determinants of health that impact well-being. Through legal clinics, legal advocacy and representation, and advocacy academies for patients and community health center staff, she partners with people experiencing housing insecurity, exiting incarceration, and living with physical and mental disabilities to address legal and systemic barriers that perpetuate inequality. Ms. Ostrowski has over a decade of community lawyering experience, working previously in public policy at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, representing victims of domestic violence in family law matters, civil rights enforcement, and impact litigation with Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center and Lawyers for Equal Justice. Deja holds a Juris Doctor from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and a B.A. in Mathematics from Occidental College. She is the co-founder of Hawaiʻi Strategy Lab, a community data collaborative.