Young Chuukese lawyer Kembo Mida, Jr. to Lead FSM Scholarship Board

Last week, FSM President Manny Mori appointed Mr. Kasio “Kembo” Mida, Jr. to the FSM Scholarship Board. His timely appointment to represent Chuuk State on the 5-member Board comes at a time when there has been a growing dissatisfaction among FSM students with the management of both national and state scholarship awarding procedures. Mr. Mida, who was elected as Vice Chairman of the Board, has himself been an outspoken critic of the inefficient and ineffective scholarship awarding system. Now, he will take an active leadership role in effecting change to what has arguably been a non-transparent and archaic system. In his meeting with the Board and its newly elected leadership, President Mori asked the state-represented members to “find ways to increase the efficiency of awarding scholarships.”

Mr. Mida was raised in Pohnpei, Chuuk, and Hawaii.  He is the son of Kasio E. Mida, from Chuuk State, and Ginger Porter Mida, from Pohnpei State and American Samoa.

He brings to the Board the same enthusiasm and commitment he has shown over the years to youth development programs. An avid sports enthusiast, Mr. Mida has used his athletic and leadership skills to empower high school and elementary students in Chuuk. With a cadre of rising Chuukese leaders, Mr. Mida co-founded Guide and Assist Through Awareness (GATA) a non-profit organization in Chuuk aimed at providing leadership skills to Chuukese youth.  As the first elected president of GATA, Mr. Mida oversaw the implementation of the first ever Chuuk State high school flag football league. Under his leadership, the NGO received annual funding from FSM government and the Australian Embassy to host drug abuse seminars and other leadership development and awareness programs for elementary and high school students.

His rise to national prominence follows an equally impressive educational background.  Mr. Mida received his B.A. degree from Humboldt State University (CA) in 1999. He conducted his senior internship for the Honorable Chief Justice Andon L. Amaraich, FSM Supreme Court. Immediately upon graduation, Mr. Mida returned to Chuuk to teach for a number of years at Saramen Chuuk Academy and the College of Micronesia. He went on to attend Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Michigan, where he earned his Juris Doctor Degree in 2005.  While in law school, Mr. Mida served as the Managing Editor of the Thomas M. Cooley Law Review and earned the Certificate of Merit for Highest Academic Grade in Criminal Law, Law Practice, and International Human Rights.  He clerked as a student extern for the Honorable Richard F. Suhrheinrich, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and, after graduation, clerked for the Honorable Paula J.M. Manderfield, Michigan, Ingham County Circuit Court, General Trial Division.

Mr. Mida currently works as an Associate Attorney with the Fredrick L. Ramp Law Firm based in Pohnpei. He provides legal advice regarding incorporation within the FSM or individual states, drafts and files incorporating documents, and provides legal opinions on issues ranging from board compensation and security interest to dissolution and liquidation. Mr. Mida has successfully obtained judgments or successfully defended clients in cases involving fraud, election fraud appeals, conspiracy, and insurance defense. He has successfully lobbied for new or amended legislation and regulations on both the state and national level ranging from farming and exporting of mangrove crab to corporate income tax and insurance matters. Prior to joining the law firm, Mr. Mida was the Chief of Litigation for the FSM Department of Justice.  He is a member of the Michigan State Bar as well as the FSM Bar and teaches law at the College of Micronesia in the trial counselor certificate program. In addition to his recent appointment to the FSM Scholarship Board, Mr. Mida serves on the Board of the Micronesian Conservation Trust.

For more, read President Mori Appoints New FSM Scholarship Board Members