THROUGH THE YEARS
We are a community organization founded in 2008. Since conception, we've been serving the Samoan/Pasefika (Pacific Islander) community of the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded by Dallas Teo, Mona Uli, Fagasavali Misa and Epi Aumavae our organization started as an idea to host a Samoan Arts & Cultural festival in San Mateo County. With this event in mind, our core group met with different community leaders & members to brainstorm ideas and get a feel for how the festival could look. Quite quickly, our focus evolved. In the meetings, our community expressed needs beyond a staple community event. We made a decision to expand our scope and do what we could to enhance the quality of life of our Samoan/Pasefika people living here in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Through the years, our programming, services, community events and partnerships are rooted in our foundational values of TAUTUA - SERVICE and LUMANA'I - BRIGHTER FUTURE. The work we do stems first, from direct needs/concerns voiced by our Pasefika community and secondly from needs identified by data assessments. As a group, we are intentional and mindful of all the resources that come our way. We do our best to ensure we are providing solutions in the most resourceful ways. We adapt our services to fit new challenges our youth, young adults and elders are experiencing so as to better reach our Pasefika people. We do all this with our other core values in mind FA'AALOALO - respect, ALOFA - LOVE, AIGA - family and transparency.
At the heart of our work is a strong love for GAGANA SAMOA - Samoan Language & AGANU'U SAMOA - Samoan Culture. We ensure learning opportunities are at the forefront for both areas in our Samoan Arts & Culture program(s). In addition, we develop culturally rooted curriculum, co-facilitate cultural competency trainings and create spaces that are represented of our Pasefika people.
Each year, we imagine the different ways we can grow as a service organization and in doing so, we are able to reflect on the beautiful journey we've had along the way. In our 15 years of servitude, we've seen so much progress made at the ground level through not only the work we do, but also the great work of other community based organizations. Collectively, we are so honored to take part in making a better way forward for our Pasefika community, a long term goal of our ancestors who traveled the great Pacific Oceans to migrate here in hopes of a brighter tomorrow.
annual reportS
A good reflection of the work we do and have done, is mapped out in our Annual Reports. We invite you to take a look at the progress and challenges we've experienced through our years of service.