Japan

Jani Iwamoto was elected to the Utah State Senate in 2014. She served in leadership as the Assistant Minority Whip. She previously served on the Salt Lake County Council where she became the first Asian American woman elected in the state of Utah. Jani Graduated Magna Cum Laude in Mass communication from the University of Utah and received a J.D. from the U.C. Davis School of Law. She was a partner at a prominent California law firm.

Recent awards include the Eleanor Roosevelt Award (Utah Democratic Party), the Rosa Parks Award (NAACP SL Branch), the Legacy Award (Utah Division of Multicultural Affairs), the Sexual Assault Awareness Month Award (Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault), Living Color Award (Living Color Utah and Utah Business), the Executive Award of Merit (Utah Department of Public Safety), and Lifetime Achievement awards from Asian Association of Utah and Organization of Chinese Americans of Utah. In 2017, Jani received the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Commendation at a ceremony presided by the Consul General of Japan in Denver, Hiroto Hirakoba, and in 2023 (Autumn Conferment of Decoration on Foreign Nationals), The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays at a ceremony presided by Consul General of Japan in Denver, Yoichi Mikami.

Jani serves as Chair of the Utah Advisory Committee for the US Commission on Civil Rights, the America250 Utah Commission, the National Japanese American Historical Society, National Veterans Network, Primary Children’s Hospital, among others. Jani was appointed as Honorary Consul of Japan in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2024, the first to hold the post in the state.