2024 PILOT Cohort
Please meet the wonderful young people who made up our 2024 cohort!
Malia Miller
Hafa Adai! My name is Malia Miller. I am half Chamorro and half Filipino. Born and raised in San Diego, I am entering my second year at a local community college as a Business Admin major. I am passionate about empowering Pacific Islander voices and creating spaces of belonging and support. I hope to uplift our community through advocacy and leadership. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity, and I am excited to learn, grow, and connect with fellow Pacific Islanders at PILOT!
Fehi Loto’aniu
Malo e lelei! My name is Fehi Loto’aniu. I was born and raised in the Yay Area with ancestral roots tracing back to the beautiful islands of Vava’u and Ha’apai in Tonga. I’m currently a third year at UC Riverside, majoring in Sustainability Studies with the hopes of finding ways to combat the tragedies of climate change that our Pasifika communities have been facing. Next year, I will be serving as the PISA President, a student coordinator at the Asian Pacific Student Programs office on campus, and will be working closely with the AANAPISI committee at UCR. I’m looking forward to building new connections, being a part of a space with fellow Pasifika advocates, and being given the opportunity to grow and learn more about myself and what I can provide for my community. T’z up!
Alesi Kamakanaokalani Meyers-Tuimavave
Aloha mai kakou/talofa lava. My name is Alesi Kamakanaokalani Meyers-Tuimavave. I am Sāmoan, Hawaiian, German, Japanese, Chinese & Black. I was born & raised in Oceanside & have recently moved to the Big Island (Hilo side) in pursuit of my bachelors degree in English Literature, along with certificates in TESOL & Pacific Studies. My goals for the future are to become an English Literature & Pacific Literature professor, but more importantly, to serve as an advocate for my communities. Mahalo/Fa‘afetai tele lava to EPIC & the PILOT program for this awesome opportunity.
Kazani Finao
Kazani is Samoan first and a man with trans experiences. He is an advocate and community organizer, and multidisciplinary artist. Kazani’s compassionate spirit is dedicated to protecting the people and the communities he is a part of. Kazani is a sun, a big brother, a fairy goddad and a warrior. He was born and raised in San Francisco(Frisco). He believes in individual freedom and for people to define their own self determination.
Kazani is a co-founder of Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition that is a member-led organization of over 5,000 formerly and currently incarcerated and systems-impacted women and trans people of all genders, founded in 2017.
He is a co-founder of Reimagine Youth Justice SF Coalition that was founded in 2020 to support the efforts of youth justice in San Francisco related to the San Francisco Closure of Juvenile Hall legislation passed in April of 2019 Youth-led and spearheaded by organizations like YoungWomen’s Freedom Center.
Kazani is a co-author of an amazing art and activism collective called I Am Why Reclaiming the Lens, An art and social justice book.
He recently co-founded the Pasifika Transgender Men Network(PTMN) with the Main creator and visionary Manumalo Ala'ilima of Pasifika Transgender Men Network(PTMN).
Today, Kazani is the founder of – Shine Wit Purpose. SWP centers black and brown pasifika indigenous trans men and masc folks in their storytelling art and activism and growing new approaches and practices in self determination and self empowerment. He is a student at City College of San Francisco majoring in Critical Pacific Islands & Oceania Studies and LGBTQI studies.
Bainivalu Sautu-Davetawalu
Bula Vinaka and Talofa Lava, my name is Bainivalu Sautu-Davetawalu. I am a 19-year-old iTaukei, born and raised in the village of Nu’uuli, American Samoa, with roots in Lau and Tailevu. As a proud Tangata Pasifika, I hold American Samoa and Fiji as the cultural chargers of my identity. I am in my first year of undergraduate studying environmental studies and geographic information systems. I aspire to pursue a career in which the presence of the Pacific is emphasized and elevated in all aspects.
LindaMae Aquino
Hector Nakautoga
Bula Vinaka y mucho gusto! My name is Hector Nakautoga and I am the son of an iTaukei Fijian father and a Mexican mother. I was born in Southern California, but I was mainly raised in the city of Vallejo in the Bay Area. I am going into my third year at UC Riverside majoring in Public Policy, and this coming year I am also the Vice President for my school’s Pacific Islander Student Association (PISA) as well as a student coordinator for the Asian Pacific Student Programs office on campus. I also work at Island Grad, an educational non-profit based in the Inland Empire that strives to celebrate and provide support for our Pasifika community in educational settings, through ceremonies, workshops, and scholarships.
I hope to one day use my degree and related experience to serve my beloved Pasifika community, hopefully in the form of providing housing professionally, but also as a mentor and leader in my community!
Samuelu Fesili
Tālofa Lava and Aloha Mai Kākou!
My name is Samuelu Fesili, and I am deeply honored to join this year’s EPIC Cohort #16. Without a doubt, I am truly grateful for this opportunity to build with such an inspiring and powerful community of Pasifika Excellence!
Born and raised in ancestral Payómkawichum/Luiseño Land (the fabulous city of Oceanside, California), I come from a great, big, loving Samoan and Native Hawaiian family. Rooted in the core values of faith, family, and education, my recent undergrad journey in Psychology and Asian American Studies at UCLA further deepened my commitment to serving our beautiful people. Now researching with the amazing Pacific Islander Community Health (PIC Health) organization, I currently aspire to pursue an MPH (Master of Public Health) to competently address our Pasifika health disparities.
During this year’s PILOT Institute, I eagerly look forward to learning, strategizing, and co-conspiring to honor our ancestral legacies of love, empower our current communities, and pave a brighter future for all of us to come!
Faʻafetai Telē Lava and Aloha Nui Loa!
Aiyiana Tiger-Mantanona
Hi! My name is Aiyiana Tiger-Mantanona (She/Her), I am an Indigenous woman of Chamorro and Native American (Choctaw, Seminole, Creek) heritage, born and raised in Northern California. Relocating to San Diego in 2021, I embarked on a journey in pursuit of higher education. Beginning in Fall of 2024, I will join the Community Based Block (CBB) graduate program at San Diego State University, focusing on multicultural counseling to become a culturally sensitive and trauma-informed therapist. My passion lies in serving Pacific Islander and Native American communities, aiming to dismantle mental health stigmas and facilitate healing from traumas. My journey is deeply influenced by the resilience of my ancestors and communities. Having witnessed firsthand the disparities faced by Indigenous peoples, I feel a profound responsibility to contribute to the empowerment and well-being of our people.
Fay Sakura Miyamoto Cordeiro
Fay is a trans and queer Kānaka Maoli Nikkei artist born and raised in Nuʻuanu on the island of Oʻahu. They are going into their 4th year as an undergraduate studying American Studies at UC Berkeley, on Chochenyo-speaking Ohlone land. Some of the classes they've taken include The Harlem Renaissance; James Baldwin's America, 1953-1974; and Rhetorics of the North American AIDS Epidemic.
For the past two years, Fay was an intern with UC Berkeley's Pacific Islander Initiative, under APASD (the Asian Pacific American Student Development Center). They worked on programming, political education, and community engagement.
In the coming school year, they will be a fellow for UC Berkeley's MOVE fellowship which pairs Asian American undergraduate students with community-based organizations (CBOs). They will be working with Lavender Phoenix, a trans and queer Asian and Pacific Islander CBO.
In their free time, Fay enjoys spending time in nature, organizing information in their essays and zines, and spending time with friends and community.
Cassidy Roberts
Hi all, my name is Kelela Ma’u! I have roots stemming from the beautiful Kingdom of Tonga and was born and raised in the Bay Area. In the fall, I will be entering my second year at UC Berkeley, where I am studying Landscape Architecture. I will also be joining the PI Initiative at Cal as an intern! I am extremely excited to be part of the PILOT program and to expand my knowledge on ways to further serve and uplift my community!
Leighani Rene Sablan
My name is Leighani Rene’ Sablan (she/they) and I am the daughter of CHamoru parents. My family and I come from Dandan, Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, but we relocated to the states when I was younger. I grew up in Manteca, CA, a small town in the Central Valley where I earned my Associates in Psychology from a local community college. I transferred to UC Irvine and graduated with my Bachelors in Psychological Science this past June! Although my time at UCI was brief, I co-founded and served as Co-President for UCI’s first Pacific Islander Student Association (PISA), creating a space of community for our Pacific Islander students.
My passions lie in health equity, access, and education for Pacific Islanders and I aspire to contribute to health data research and policy initiatives in the future.
I’m super grateful for the opportunity to be part of this cohort in the PILOT program and I am excited to meet and grow with everyone!