2025 Outstanding Alumni and Lifetime Achievement Awardees

We are pleased to announce the 2025 honorees of the Program in Occupational Therapy's Outstanding Alumni Award: Joni Kamiya, MSOT, OTR/L, and Jenica Lee, OTR/L. The awards recognize alumni for their achievements in or contributions to the field of occupational therapy in research; education; leadership; professional development; community participation; diversity, equity and inclusion; and/or by supporting the Program.

We are also thrilled to honor Cynthia Ballentine, MSOT, OTR/L, with an Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award for her 40-year career in occupational therapy as an educator, mentor and clinician.

The awards will be presented at the 17th Annual OT Scholarship Day on April 25.

2025 Outstanding Alumni Awardees

Joni Kamiya, MSOT '99, OTR/L

Joni Kamiya, Class of 1999, is an occupational therapist and preceptor for BAYADA Home Health Care and the president of the Occupational Therapy Association of Hawai’i. She is a renowned agriculture and environmental advocate dedicated to the sustainable use of GMO technology. She is recognized for her passion for occupational therapy (OT), leadership skills, community service, and advocacy for agriculture, environmental and climate initiatives.

As an occupational therapist, Kamiya’s career focuses on improving the lives of older adults through meaningful activity, holistic care and caregiver support. Clients describe Kamiya as “the one who makes things happen.” As a preceptor, she mentors new occupational therapists and teaches them to thrive in home health settings and advocate for their clients. The clinicians think highly of Kamiya not only as a peer, but because of the generosity, care and passion she has for her clients and her craft.

Her leadership skills support the OT profession. She is the current president of the Occupational Therapy Association of Hawai’i after serving on their public relations committee for 10 years. She is always excited to take fieldwork students and mentor those interested in OT. Kamiya volunteers with a community caregiver support group, where she teaches caregivers skills. Together with her team of fellow occupational therapist volunteers, she provides information, resources and classes to caregivers to help older adults age in place with family and loved ones.

Above all, Kamiya’s love for OT shines through in the way she speaks about the clients she has worked with, her experiences in the community and her desire to help people do their occupations well into their 90s and 100s.

Kamiya’s research skills were used to help researchers at the University of Hawai’i who were under attack by activists for using the cross-protection method to provide GMO protection against viruses for crops during the 2000s. Her passion for advocacy led Kamiya to start her blog “Hawai’i Farmer’s Daughter” to be a voice for the farmers and researchers. As an “ag-vocate” leader, Kamiya completed a three-month fellowship in 2015 at Cornell University through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on sustainability. In 2018, she traveled to Germany for two weeks through the John J. McCloy Fellowship on Global Trends to see what was happening to German energy and the energy crisis in the UK and France. She is passionate about environmental and climate issues that affect occupations globally, especially those in the agricultural industry.

For her love of OT, client-centered care, leadership, community outreach, and agriculture, environmental and climate advocacy, we are pleased to present the 2025 Outstanding Alumni Award to Joni Kamiya.

Jenica Lee, OTD '04, OTR/L

Jenica Lee, Class of 2004, is a clinical associate professor in the department of occupational therapy at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She is recognized for her research and scholarship, teaching and academia, student leadership and mentoring, and dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at UIC and in the Chicago community.

Lee’s research and scholarship focus on promoting health and wellness and participation in everyday life activities for older adults with or without disabilities. One standout example is a pilot project that examined the use of everyday technology and e-health services among older people with and without functional limitations. Her work advanced the Model of Human Occupation theory and assessment development, leveraging her expertise in translation and validation of occupational therapy (OT) tools. She played a key role in recruitment, data collection, and supervision for the project, leading to multiple peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.

Lee serves as the faculty advisor for ILLi-SOTA, the UIC chapter of the Student Occupational Therapy Association, guiding student leaders in advocacy, community service, and professional development. As a faculty liaison for ILOTA and AOTA, she ensures that students stay informed on professional updates and opportunities. She has mentored numerous doctoral students, tailoring her approach to their professional goals and fostering collaborations that have resulted in co-authored presentations, practice-oriented resources, and published works. Her dedication to student success is evident in her commitment to intensive mentoring, fostering confidence, and creating opportunities for professional growth.

Lee is deeply committed to advancing DEI in her teaching, scholarship and service. She promotes inclusive classroom discussions on sensitive topics like ageism and implicit bias, incorporating diverse community voices to enrich learning. As a sought-after mentor for students of color, particularly those from Asian backgrounds, she actively supports them in navigating challenges and implementing strategies learned from professional conferences on anti-Asian hate. As a member of the UIC OT department’s IDEA Committee, she has contributed to creating inclusive teaching resources and helped plan a faculty retreat to strengthen DEI in the curriculum. Additionally, she serves on multiple university-level DEI initiatives, reinforcing her dedication to fostering an inclusive and supportive academic environment.

Lee has served as an OT consultant to the Chinese American Service League since 2016, which included developing and delivering a series of in-services with their home aides to enhance the support, safety and participation of community-dwelling older adults.

For her commitment to research, scholarship, student mentoring, community service, and DEI, we are pleased to present the 2025 Outstanding Alumni Award to Jenica Lee.

2025 Alumni Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Cynthia Ballentine, MSOT '91, OTR/L

Cynthia Ballentine, Class of 1991, is the occupational therapy assistant (OTA) program director and a professor at St. Louis Community College (STLCC). She is recognized for her 40-year career in occupational therapy as an educator, mentor and clinician. Over the years, Ballentine has touched the lives of many colleagues, educators, clients and students alike.

Her clinical knowledge is vast, with practice experience in acute care, outpatient, driving rehab, home health, community-based practice and mental health. Ballentine transitioned to educational environments, including WashU OT’s own Community Practice, where she taught hands-on skills as a lab instructor and a problem-based learning tutor. She found her calling when she began as an instructor in OTA programs, eventually teaching full-time at STLCC in 2011. Throughout her years at the college, she assumed the role of program director, was promoted to full professor, and oversaw the build-out of a new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified teaching space and two reaccreditations.

Ballentine has been generous with her time in service to the profession. She began on Missouri’s licensure board shortly after licensure was awarded to practice as certified OTAs and OTRs in our state. She then transitioned to service at the national level, first on the ACOTE Roster of Accreditation Evaluators, where she continues today, and finally to the respected position of Council Member, with her tenure beginning in 2023.

Ballentine has been an active participant in STLCC’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) mission. She assists not only the OTA program but also many of the health science programs in the college, addressing questions and concerns related to engaging DEI issues in the classroom and clinician environments. Her integrity and character shine through in every interaction. She was chosen for the Chancellor’s Leadership team, which focuses on building leadership behaviors and developing a workforce ready for more executive levels of college collaborations. She is always looking for ways to advance the college’s mission to “empower students, expand minds and change lives.”

Makenzy Benton, a 2024 STLCC graduate, wrote this about Ballentine: “Cynthia has an unwavering commitment to her students, both academically and personally. She consistently showed up for student-planned events, even beyond the classroom, demonstrating her investment in our growth and sense of community. Her presence made us feel seen and valued, creating an environment where we were motivated to excel not just for ourselves, but for the group as a whole.”

At the end of this academic year, Ballentine will be retiring from STLCC. To honor and celebrate her 40-year career, we are thrilled to present the 2025 Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award to Cynthia Ballentine.