Dana Matsunami (they or she) is an attorney at the National Center for Youth Law. Dana uses legal strategies including policy advocacy and litigation to enforce youth rights and uplift their voices. Presently, Dana’s work focuses on the right to counsel for youth in Hawai’i’s foster system. She collaborates closely with foster youth in Hawai’i as well as local and national partners to advance the statutory right to counsel for foster youth in Hawaii and ensure foster children’s rights are upheld.

Dana is a graduate from Whitman College and University of California, Irvine School of Law. While in law school, Dana was the president of OutLaw, represented clients in “crimmigration” cases, and was the recipient of the UCI School of Law Legacy Award as well as high honors for her pro bono leadership. In their free time, Dana is an avid open water swimmer and ocean enthusiast.