Audrey E. Kitagawa, J.D., is a cum laude, Blackstonian Pre-Law Honor Society graduate of the University of Southern California. She obtained her Juris Doctorate from Boston College Law School. She practiced law in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, and at the time of her retirement, was a Martindale-Hubbell AV-rated (highest rating for professional and ethical excellence) attorney.
She is the President and Founder of the International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation; President of the Light of Awareness International Spiritual Family; Chair of the Anti-Racism Initiative; Chair of the Gender Equality Working Group; Vice Chair of the IF20 Communications Committee; and a member of the Operations Team and the Advisory Council of the G20 Interfaith Forum.
She is the former advisor to the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict at the United Nations; a United Nations ECOSOC Representative for the United Religions Initiative; an inaugural member of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Faith for Earth Interfaith Women Council; a member of the Advisory Council of the Global Security Institute, and a member of the Advisory Council of the Facta Est Lux Human Rights Institute. She is Chair Emerita of the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns, New York.
She has contributed to many publications, including “Crossing World Views: The Power of Perspective in the Hawai‘i Japanese American Experience,” for the book, Learning in the Light; “Globalization as the Fuel for Religious and Ethnic Conflict,” for the book, Globalization and Identity: Cultural Diversity, Religion, and Citizenship; “The US in Foreign Affairs: Source of Global Security, or Source of Global Fear?” for the book, America and the World: The Double Bind; “The Role of Identity in the Rise and Decline of Buddhism in Hawai‘i, the 50th State of the United States of America,” for the Sambhodi Journal; and “Practical Spirituality” and “The Power of Om: Transformation of Consciousness,” for World Affairs: The Journal of International Issues.
She has been listed in Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who of American Women, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World, and Prominent People of Hawai‘i.
She has been enstooled into the royal family as the Nekoso Hemaa (i.e., Queen Mother of Development) of Ajiyamanti in Ghana, West Africa, and has a school which she helped to build named after her in her African name, the Nana Ode Anyankobea Junior Secondary School.
Ms. Kitagawa is the recipient of numerous awards, honors, and distinctions, including: the Ellis Island Medal of Honor which celebrates diversity and the importance of immigrants to our nation’s economic and social success for her work in multiculturalism, Asian women’s history and empowerment, and spiritual leadership; the Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum Award for the Advancement of Interreligious Understanding, an award that acknowledges a career that has significantly advanced the cause of interreligious understanding; the “Pride of Eurasia” Medal and a Diploma from the Republic of Kazakhstan Ministry of Education and Science, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, for her outstanding contribution to the development of spiritual culture and education in Eurasia; the Spirit of the UN Award, which recognizes individuals whose work expresses the core principles, spirit and vision of the United Nations; the New York State Assembly Citation as a Distinguished Honoree of her lifetime of selfless service to the State of New York and the international peacekeeping community; a Citation from the Office of the President for the Borough of Brooklyn, City of New York, for her commitment to community well-being by providing outstanding services and support to local residents, youth, and those in need; and an Honorary Interfaith Minister degree, conferred by The New Seminary in New York.
