Community and support is vital to the retention, health, and well-being of Pacific Islander students and communities. Connect with organizations and resources on campus, locally, and beyond. To add any resources, please e-mail the librarian!
The Pacific Islander (PI) Initiative at UC Berkeley "is a student-centered program started through student activism at the University of California, Berkeley that serves the changing needs of Pacific Islander communities. The PI Initiative seeks to develop and maintain cultural interests, promote cross-cultural community building, and address disparities by increasing access to relevant and responsive resources. The PI Initiative is housed under the Asian Pacific American Student Development (APASD) office, a department of Multicultural Student Development and member of the Division of Equity & Inclusion at the University of California, Berkeley.
Pacific Islanders at Cal PAC encourages the recruitment of Pacific Islander (PI) students in higher education through outreach efforts to high schools, junior colleges and through educational programs for PI youths and communities here on campus. PAC also provides academic assistance and support for current Pacific Islander students at this university and encourages the recruitment and visibility of Pacific Islander students at Cal. Moreover, we network with other PI organizations to establish community support and are advocating for Pacific Island Studies on campus.
Find out more about the struggle to Protect Mauna Kea.
Daily Cal: https://www.dailycal.org/2019/04/02/uc-should-stop-funding-mauna-kea-telescope-construction/
Oceania APASD: Pacific Islanders at Cal
Facebook Page managed by Pacific Islander students in UCBerkeley's Asian Pacific American Student Development.
APASD: Asian Pacific American Student Development serves the diverse and changing needs of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities at the University of California, Berkeley. APASD provides accessible and relevant programming and resources, promotes cross-cultural community building, and advocates civil rights and social justice through education and empowerment.
The Pacific Islander (PI) Initiative is a student-centered program started through deep student activism at the University of California, Berkeley. It exists to support folks of Pacific Islander/Pasifika/Oceanian ancestry both on and off campus. The PI Initiative promotes social justice in PI communities by offering programs and resources that uniquely center PI cultures. Our goal is to empower PI communities at UC Berkeley and within the greater Bay Area to (1) develop and maintain cultural interests, (2) promote cross-cultural community building, and (3) address disparities by increasing access to relevant and responsive resources.
REACH! Asian Pacific Islander Recruitment & Retention Center
In 1994, REACH! began with a handful of committed folks, as a program under the Asian Student Union (ASU) at UC Berkeley to target “Asian Pacific American, high school students, especially those who are underrepresented, low-income, and non-college tracked”. Its goals were two-fold: 1) promoting higher education as an attainable goal and 2) empowering students through “building ethnic pride and programs that foster community activism and support APA youth culture”.
As REACH! grew organizationally, the vision and purpose of REACH! grew with it. While the mission remained, “the service and empowerment of recent immigrant and urban Asian Pacific Americans living in at-risk life situations,” we added on that “Our goal is to promote higher education as a means to empower ourselves and improve the economic and social conditions facing our communities.” We saw that REACH! had a unique role on campus and in the API community at large, because REACH! was not just going to increase the numbers of underrepresented Asians at Berkeley but REACH! would be a training ground for future educators, activists, and leaders who would address society’s injustices through their life’s work. Thus, we created programs to raise political awareness, build coalitions, develop youth leaders, and build leadership in ourselves.
Each year, programs have been refined and recreated by (insanely) dedicated and intelligent coordinators, who look for a better way to do things. However, our single most important legacy is the steady stream of community leaders we have and will produce.
Pacific Heritage Student Association
The Polynesian Heritage Student Association of Berkeley enacts the retention and advancement of misrepresented and marginalized Polynesian students. Polynesian Heritage Student Association esteems to provide a culturally representative space for Polynesian students on campus to create a safe and comfortable atmosphere in which they may seek academic and personal guidance from a community of their peers who have shared similar adversities, and thus a common understanding through a cultural lens.
U.T.O.P.I.A. (LGBT) The United Territories Of Pacific Islanders' Alliance (U.T.O.P.I.A) originated in San Francisco, California in March 1998. The organization was formed to provide support to the Polynesian Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, andTransgender community
Samoan Community Development Center SCDC was founded in San Francisco in 1991 as a non-profit organization (501.c.3), with a mission to improve the quality of life for Samoans and Pacific Islanders through self-help, economic self-sufficiency, community solidarity, education, and the preservation of customs and traditions. SCDC offers a variety of programs including the Epenesa o Samoa Senior Program, Family Support Services, Pacific Islander Youth Alliance, After School Program, School Support Groups, Intensive case management for at risk youth, Seven week summer program, Bilingual Parenting Classes, Pacific Islander Prevention Services, School Readiness Workshops, Bilingual Parenting Classes, Parent Support Groups, Case Management & Family Advocacy, Enhanced Visitation, Domestic Violence Workshops & Counseling, Low Income Housing Applications & Services, Birth Certificates & Immigration Assistance, Samoan Wellness Initiative, Samoan Breast Cancer Outreach, Samoan Language and Culture, Cultural Celebrations, and more. A full list of their programs can be found at http://samoancommunitysf.org/programs/.
APIENC builds queer and transgender Asian and Pacific Islander power to amplify our voices and increase the visibility of our communities. Through organizing in the Bay Area, we inspire and train grassroots leaders, transform our values from scarcity to abundance, and partner with organizations to sustain a vibrant movement ecosystem.
API Wellness is a fully-licensed, federally qualified health center (FQHC) serving people of color and the LGBTQ community. The team provides respectful, compassionate health care that focuses on you as a whole person. The medical staff can connect you to counseling, therapy, case management, and community services—everything you need to reach health, wellness, and equality. Information on the Wellness Clinics in the Tenderloin and the Castro can be found at http://apiwellness.org/wellness-clinic/
Camp Polynesia Comm Unity Polynesian Enrichment Summer Day Camp In 2011, Pacific Islander Community Partnership (PICP) with collaborators MDRCY & FA'ATASI, started Camp Unity in Visitacion Valley of San Francisco, serving youth and families with a 6 week free summer day camp, staffed by college students/graduates, community professionals, and volunteers; with meals provided by the community. Today, PICP has independently expanded Camp Unity's reach and has added sites in Daly City, South San Francisco, San Bruno and San Mateo serving over 1,000 campers as of this summer. We believe in community investment and are still an all volunteer, 100% donation sustained program and are humbled to fill this need for our underserved and silent communities.
Other Local Campus Organizations
Nesians Unite (Chabot College) "Who We Are," November 2017: Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia. We represent all of Oceania’s children at Chabot college an aim to support and empower our population and show who we are as a culture and as a people. Nesians Unite's purpose is to raise awareness of the Pacific Islander population here on Chabot's campus. We strive not only to support our communities, but to also educate our neighbors about our cultures and its traditions. Nesians include the islands of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. As a club, we support in building the bridge to transfer on in higher education by providing counseling services, resources, and networking opportunities.
Pacific Islanders Club (San Francisco State University)
The Pacific Islanders’ Club is committed to building a strong academic community for its members, the students of San Francisco State University and other Pacific Islander organizations. With education, hospitality, and support, we promote the knowledge, culture, and strength among ourselves, and the many islands of the Pacific.
Pacific Islands' Student Association (UCLA)
Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach: (415-567-6255) Founded in 1975, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach (formerly Nihonmachi Legal Outreach) is a community-based, social justice organization serving the Asian and Pacific Islander, and other communities of the Greater Bay Area. With offices in Oakland and San Francisco, our work is focused in the areas of violence against women/family law, immigration and immigrant rights, senior law and elder abuse prevention, the rights of those with disabilities, anti-human trafficking, youth violence prevention, affordable housing preservation and tenants’ rights, and other social justice issues.
EPIC (Empowering Pacific Islander Communities): Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC) is promoting social justice by engaging Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities through culturally relevant advocacy, research, and development. EPIC is a national organization based in Los Angeles and was established in 2009 by a group of young Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) leaders who recognized the urgency to address the growing needs of NHPI families. With experiences ranging from grassroots organizing to higher education administration, these young leaders identified an immediate need to build a strong and unified advocacy voice for NHPIs; a need for data that serve as testament to the needs of NHPI families; and a need for a pipeline of strong leaders who can be advocates and influencers in, and on behalf of, the community. Since its inception, EPIC has rooted its work in advocating on behalf of NHPI families; building partnerships within and outside the NHPI community; creating tools and resources to support organizational and community capacity; and developing leaders and advocates. EPIC is fiscally sponsored by Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles.
NHPI COVID-19 Data Policy Lab - UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
Oregon Pacific Islander Coalition
OPIC coordinates services and advocates for resources for the Pacific Islander community in Oregon. OPIC also organizes to advocate for better data and greater investment from local and state health authorities.
Utah Pacific Islander Health Coalition (UPIHC)
UPIHC seeks to improve quality of life for Pacific Islanders and the communities they live in throughout the state of Utah through health promoting efforts including public health education, preventive wellness services, and health policy advocacy.
Pacific Island Knowledge 2 Action Resources (PIK2AR) Pacific Island Knowledge 2 Action Resources (PIK2AR) is an asset-based community organization whose mission is to help Utah’s Pacific Islander communities flourish through providing culturally-relevant resources, opportunities and services to help build alliances, bridge communities, and provide opportunities. PIK2AR, in collaboration with various community partners, is focused on providing support in the following areas: economic impact, violence prevention, and cultural preservation.
350 Pacific Climate Warriors 350 Pacific is a youth led grassroots network working with communities to fight climate change from the Pacific Islands. 350 Pacific works with organisers across 15 Pacific Island nations to highlight the vulnerabilities of our island countries to climate change while showcasing our strength and resilience as a people. We work through existing networks and with a range of partner organisations who share in our vision for the Pacific and the planet. 350 Pacific has organised, and facilitated workshops to educate and empower youth in the region, we have organised days of action to raise awareness and we have participated in the UN climate negotiations. Now, we are mobilising the warriors of the Pacific Islands to challenge the fossil fuel industry.
Independent Guahan The Independence Task Force is a volunteer advocacy group that is tied to the Commission on Decolonization in the Government of Guam. The Decolonization Commission is mandated to see through the process of decolonization for Guam. Part of this is ensuring that those who have been historically deprived of the right to self-determination, are able to exercise that right and vote for what next political status Guam will have. The Decolonization Commission is meant to be an objective, impartial guide in this process and not favor any particular political status option over the others. The Independence Task Force, and its fellow Task Forces for Statehood and Free Association each play a role in advocating their own particular status. These Task Forces are made up of community members who make a public commitment to furthering the cause of self-determination in general, and their political status in particular.
Oceania Connects aims to show the success, struggle, and journey of people of Oceania ranging from students and academics to activists and poets across the globe through multimedia content.