Activist and Founder of Brown Girl Woke, Doris Tulifau | “With consistency, resilience, and the right team, the impact of your hard work will come through”
Doris Tulifau, founder of Brown Girl Woke, shares her story of resilience, tenacious advocacy and love for her community as she navigated higher education before pursuing her community advocacy work around gender equity in Samoa and American Samoa. She gives advice to people interested in becoming community organizers and working in the nonprofit field.
Director of financial aid empowering scholars to reach financial freedom, Eli Jennings: “You are in control of your financial destiny”
Eli Jennings shares his path from homelessness to Director of Financial Aid at Pacific Rim University in Hawai’i. He now provides students with the resources they need to find financial freedom.
American Samoan Harvard Law Student, Joseph V Langkilde | Applying Tautua in Higher Education Spaces
After graduating from Fa’asao Marist High School in American Samoa, Joseph V. Langkilde (JV) attended Salt Lake Community College before transferring to BYU where he majored in finance. Now a Harvard law student, JV talks about the graduate application process, provides tips for prospective law students, and discusses his grad school essay topic inspired by his family and tautua. He believes Pacific scholars should reflect on their cultural identity and how it has shaped them when applying to colleges and grad schools.
Samoan Harvard student, Gabrielle Langkilde | “We need our presence to be felt and known”
Born and raised on the island of Tutuila in American Samoa, Gabrielle Langkilde is now a 3rd year student at Harvard College majoring in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Sociology. Gabrielle shares her transition from island to mainland, her experience with culture shock, and the importance of creating spaces for Pacific Islanders to be empowered and represented across college campuses.
Alina Fa'aola | Mentoring Pacific Islander Students Through the Oakland Pacific Islander Network
Alina Fa’aola, born and raised in Los Angeles and of Samoan and Mexican descent, talks about her academic journey and her passion for cultivating leaders in a new program, Oakland Pacific Islander Network. Through this initiative, she hopes to help young Pacific Islander students in Oakland develop their leadership skills.
Black and Samoan First-Generation Stanford Alumna, Teyonna Jarman | “Stay Rooted in Culture”
Teyonna Jarman talks about her multicultural identity and her experience as a first-generation college student. Now a Stanford alumna with a B.S. in Product Design, she plans on pursuing opportunities at the intersection of tech, entertainment and education. She hopes to see more students embracing and feeling empowered by their multicultural identities.
Samoan Mechanical Engineer, Emily Sataua Lautoa: “Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there”
Emily Sataua Lautoa talks about culture shock in college, sexism in the engineering industry and the importance of pursuing higher education. While she currently works as a mechanical engineer, she one day hopes to give back to her community by providing engineering resources to students in her hometown of Pago Pago.