Jill Kehaulani Esch ’03

Jill Kehaulani Esch, Native Hawaiian, was born and raised in Hawai’i. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and her Juris Doctor degree from William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline School of Law) in 2003.

In 2000, she was the recipient of the inaugural William Mitchell Women in Law scholarship. During law school, she was President of the American Indian Law Students Association (now known as Native American Law Students Association). Under her leadership, the school hosted its first-ever Tribal Appellate Court oral argument. Jill served on the law school’s Alumni Board for several terms. In 2020, she received the Mitchell Hamline School of Law Outstanding Alumni Award. As former Dean Mark Gordon noted in nominating her, “Jill is always volunteering to do more for the school. She has worked diligently to recruit Native American students to Mitchell Hamline, and she is a constant ambassador for us with students and the community. Jill also lives the mission of the school in terms of her work with Native American and other diverse communities.” In 2021, Jill received the Diversity and Inclusion award from the Minnesota Lawyer.

After law school, she was a judicial law clerk to Hennepin County Judge John Q. McShane and an associate attorney in Duluth for several years. In 2013, Jill was appointed the ombudsperson for American Indian Families in Minnesota and was reappointed in 2021 when the Office of Ombudsperson for American Indian Families was created by the Minnesota Legislature. This is the only independent state agency of its kind in the United States.

Jill is an active member of the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) and received its Member of the Year award in 2017. Since 2000, when she was in law school, Jill has been an active member of the Minnesota Native American Bar Association (MNABA). Jill was instrumental in having the Association’s By Laws amended in 2000 to include Native Hawaiians to be Regular Members, being eligible to vote and hold office or directorship in the Association. There are now a handful of Native Hawaiians who are members of the Association. In law school, Jill was the first Native Hawaiian scholarship recipient from the Native Bar Association. For three years, she ran the MNABA Scholarship Golf Tournament and raised $36,000 in revenue. She is now serving her second term on the MNABA Board.

From 2017 to 2025, Jill helped to chair the Children and Families Chapter for the United States Ombudsman Association (USOA) and was an Ex Officio Member of the Board during that time. She now co-chairs the USOA Children and Families ICWA Circle. In 2025, she received the USOA’s first Member of the Year Award. In 2026, Jill was appointed the Director of Membership for the USOA Board.