Kiana Fuega

Board Member

​Kiana Fuega is a Samoan from Leone and Olosega, Manu’a in Amerika Samoa by way of Tacoma, Washington. Her upbringing in a military family meant that many places, from Hawai’i to Georgia, were home to Kiana before her family finally settled in Washington where she’s been ever since and currently raises her daughter.

Kiana is currently a doctoral student at the University of Washington Seattle in sociocultural anthropology. Her research interests are in educational anthropology and the preservation of indigenous knowledge in education and among the Pacific diaspora.

Kiana studied anthropology at the UW where she completed her undergraduate studies. Her involvement outside of the classroom with Pacific Islander student activism around education shaped Kiana’s development as much as the time spent within the classroom, if not more. For the past 15 years, Kiana has worked in higher education across Washington’s colleges and universities with a focus on equity, diversity and inclusion through outreach, community engagement, and student development. Her commitment to exploring and bridging gaps between the institution and the local Pacific Islander community led her to be involved in a number of initiatives to develop the UPRISE Pacific Islander Education Conference, and leading the development of the Vaka Summer STEM Program at Pierce College and the Samoan Arts and Academic Competition.