Staff
Terisa Siagatonu
Executive Director for Organizational Transformation, Asian American & Pacific Islander Thriving Initiatives
Terisa Siagatonu (she/they), award-winning poet, educator, and transformative leader, will soon be joining UC Berkeley to lead Asian Pacific American Student Development (APASD) and the Asian American & Pacific Islander Thriving Initiatives(link is external). Born, rooted, and raised on unceded Ohlone territory, currently residing in Oakland, CA, she is the granddaughter of the late High Chief Leuluso’o Fualauto’alasi Leatutufu who served on the U.S. Census Bureau committee that coined the term Asian Pacific Islander in the late 1970s. Terisa venerates his legacy in her paradigm-shifting work within the AA & PI community, having developed and collaborated with AA & PI campus centers, student programming, organizations, conferences, and initiatives nationwide and across Oceania for the last 20 years.
Angel Halafihi
APASD Assistant Director, Pacific Islander Initiative
Email: halafihi@berkeley.edu
Hello! My name is Angel Halafihi (Hah-lah-fee-hee). I'm an APASD Assistant Director and I manage the Pacific Islander (PI) Initiative here at UC Berkeley. I'm a first-generation Tongan, born and raised in the Bay Area. Prior to this role, I attended UCLA where I organized through their Pacific Islander Student Association (PISA) and the Pacific Islander Education and Retention (PIER) program. I graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Psychology and have been at Berkeley as a staff person ever since. In this role, I’m excited about working closely with our young people, advocating for PI students and communities, and supporting the visions they have for their villages on campus and beyond. I'm a visual artist, and love music! If you have any questions, need support, or would like to chat, please don’t hesitate to send me a message.
Miya Sommers, MA
APASD Assistant Director, Asian American Political Activation Program
Email: miyasommers@berkeley.edu
Hello ~ my name is Miya (they/she) and I am one of the Assistant Directors in APASD. I oversee the Asian American Political Activation (AAPA) Program which includes the AAPA internship, MOVE Fellowship, and BLOOM: Asian American Community Program.
I am a third generation settler in the territory of xučyun, the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo-speaking Ohlone people, and have spent most of my life here. I am mixed gosei (fifth-generation Nikkei/Japanese-American) and have used this experience to inform my community organizing work.
Earning my BA at UCSB in Global Studies (with in emphasis on South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific) as a student organizer to more recently completing my Master's in Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University helped me cultivate (and continue to grown in) an educational praxis rooted in collective liberation. Outside of APASD, I engage in community organizing in Oakland and creative/dreaming work related to healing people and the land.
I look forward to getting to know you and am happy to set up a time to chat to learn more about you and how APASD can help you thrive! Feel free to reach out to me using the email above!