Workshop Session 1:
Friday, 3pm - 4:15pm

Return to Workshop Schedule

Campus Tour of OSU and Cultural Resource Centers [Alumni Lounge]

Get outside and go on a tour of the campus! You will see what OSU has to offer, special programs and services and what student life is like. The Cultural Resource Centers will be highlighted on the tour. We will also be showing you the main buildings for the PISA Conference. Meet at the Alumni Lounge.

Presenters: OSU Students - Desmond Kaiura and Tutasi Willy

Pasifika Timeline [Alumni Ballroom Section A]

"Pasifika Timeline" will take an introductory look at moments in history that show colonial influence in the Pacific Islands, where that brings us today as Pasifika people, and how we can use history and our cultural roots to imagine our futures. Students will participate in an interactive presentation and timeline activity in this workshop.

Presenter: Ashley Helenihi

  • Ashley Helenihi is a proud Native Hawaiian and Japanese woman with lifelong experience and passion for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander diaspora community work. She was raised by her family and community to live a life rooted in culture, service, and leadership, through things like traditional arts, nonprofit work, and student organizing. She received both a BA in Sociology, with a minor in Psychology and Law, from the University of Southern California, and a Master of Studies in Law degree from the USC Gould School of Law in 2021, also having served as President of USC PISA for 3 years. Ashley is currently the Finance & Operations Manager for UTOPIA PDX, working in the Queer and Trans Pacific Islander (QTPI) community and beyond in the Portland metro area. She is also a Board Director and Education Committee Chair for Moku‘āina A Wakinekona Hawaiian Civic Club in Washington state. Ashley was born in Torrance, CA and raised in Vancouver, WA, where she currently resides.

Know Your Rights: Pasifika Edition [Alumni Ballroom Section B]

Know Your Rights and use them! Join us to get Pasifika specific updates from the Dept of Homeland Security. We will go through a Know Your Rights presentation and end with an activism art activity.

Presenters: Johanna Inoke & Angela William

  • Hafa Adai yan Tirow! My name is Johanna Inoke and I am a Chamorro woman born and raised in the island of Saipan. I moved to Vancouver during high school years and it has been my new home since then. I am an alumni of Clark College and Washington State University – Vancouver Campus where I achieved my Bachelors in Biology. Although science was my major, I learned through activities outside of school work, that community work is my real passion. I will be sharing knowledge from my work as a Site Manager at the Pacific Islander Community Association of WA. I attended PISA Con for the first time in 2016 and I am so happy to be back as a Workshop Facilitator.

  • Angela William, She/Her, Chuukese

    My name is Angela William and I am the Wellness Navigator for PICA-WA in SW Washington. I’m Chuukese, from the island of Weno and Udot. Spefically from the villages of Sapuk in Weno and Penia in Udot. I graduated from Portland State University in 2020 with my B.S. in Criminal Justice/Criminology. I was driven by the support of my family and my community to keep going to school, and to keep finding new opportunities.

We Are Scholars: Reimagining the Way We Think About Knowledge & Values [Alumni Ballroom Section C Main Stage]

How do you think society defines what a “scholar” is? Have you ever thought of yourself as a “scholar”? For many, this word centers on a formalized position within a higher education institution. This session will be led by two student-leaders from Pacific University as they present their research and photography project, “We Are Scholars”, leading participants through a large-scale banner exhibit and asking participants to explore and reflect how they are “scholars” in their own right. This workshop aims to redefine scholarship, showcasing the stories of NHPI individuals and how they ground themselves in their cultural knowledge and values. We hope you join us in this space to reimagine scholarship outside of the Western, colonized lens and come together to root ourselves in the way we can teach and learn from each other.

Presenters: Lani Janes & Jenna Hickman

  • Leilani Janes is a first-generation college student studying at
    Pacific University. She is passionate about research and supporting
    Pacific Islander students and peers. She is dedicated to sharing in
    the joy and knowledge others hold and empowering engagement and
    solidarity in the community. Heavily influenced by her cultural
    background as Filipino and white, as well as her major in Sociology,
    she is focused on studying different ways of breaking down the
    colonial lens within learning. She is honored to represent her school,
    her work, and her PISA chapter, and hopes to use all that she has
    learned to serve her community better.

  • Jenna Hickman is an undergraduate student at Pacific University,
    Oregon, pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Film and Video. Born and
    raised on ʻOahu, Hawaiʻi, Jenna comes from a diverse cultural
    background including Hawaiian, White, and Okinawan descent. She is
    passionate about researching and developing a deeper understanding of Pacific Islanders as they journey to build their own stories on the
    continent. In the future, she hopes to pursue documentary by uplifting
    NHPI communities through various mediums such as film, journalism,
    photography, and design.

Paʻi Kākou: Various Mediums of Hawaiian Printing [Centro Cultural]

The Pacific is full of creatives and artists who use different mediums to express their culture. This workshop uplifts contemporary and traditional styles of Hawaiian printing. We will explore printing practices that we are inspired by and engage in at Native Hawaiian Student Services at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. ʻOhe kāpala (bamboo stamping), screen printing, and Hawaiʻi’s own Printing Press, built in 1837 in Lahainaluna, Maui, will be some of the mediums we will explore in detail. Participants will be exposed to contemporary and traditional styles of Hawaiian printing while learning more about their origins and how this work serves as a pathway for expression and connection to their culture.

Presenters: Bree Kalima, Alicia Nani Reyes, Jordan Kalawaiʻa Nunies, Kallie Lehua Matsuura-Chang, Kye Kukahiko

  • Bree Kalima (she/they) is a Kanaka ʻŌiwi from the Hawaiian Kingdom. She was raised in the ahupuaʻa of Honouliuli and Mānana on the beautiful island of Oʻahu. In 2016, Bree graduated with honors from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo with a BA in Psychology, a BA in Administration of Justice, and a minor in Hawaiian Studies. In 2019, she graduated with honors from San Diego State University with a MA in Postsecondary Educational Leadership, Specialization in Student Affairs. She then moved to Portland, Oregon where she became the second Senior Program Coordinator for the Pacific Islander, Asian & Asian American Student Center and the first Adjunct Faculty in the School for Gender, Race and Nations at Portland State University teaching PIAA 301 - Intro to Pacific Islander Studies. During her time at PSU, Bree completed a Graduate Certificate in Gender, Race, and Nations at Portland State University with a focus on Indigenous Studies. She now serves as the Kapaʻakea Program Coordinator with Native Hawaiian Student Services at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Lastly, she is an inaugural co-chair for the Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Caucus with NCORE (OCNCORE). In her free time, Bree enjoys traveling and existing fully in her beloved communities (good food, endless laughter, crafting).

  • Alicia Nani Reyes is Kānaka ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian) and Mēxihcatl (Aztec), born and raised in the ancestral homelands of the Nuwu (Southern Paiute). She earned her Bachelor of Science in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology and Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration from the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). Alicia comes from a background in student organizing at UNR with the Indigenous Student Organization, Native American Alumni Chapter, and Multicultural Center. In 2022, she returned to the Hawaiian Kingdom to pursue her Ph.D. in Educational Administration at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM). Alicia now works full-time as a Program Coordinator with Native Hawaiian Student Services at UHM. Her research interests include Native Hawaiian Diaspora experiences, Hawaiian History, and Education. She is involved in student organizations, such as the Indigenous Student Association and Sister Circle at Mānoa. Alicia enjoys mālama ʻāina work days in her free time, going to the beach, eating with family and friends, and attending live music concerts.(Aztec), born and raised in the ancestral homelands of the Nuwu (Southern Paiute). She earned her Bachelor of Science in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology and Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration from the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). Alicia comes from a background in student organizing at UNR with the Indigenous Student Organization, Native American Alumni Chapter, and Multicultural Center. In 2022, she returned to the Hawaiian Kingdom to pursue her Ph.D. in Educational Administration at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM). Alicia now works full-time as a Program Coordinator with Native Hawaiian Student Services at UHM. Her research interests include Native Hawaiian Diaspora experiences, Hawaiian History, and Education. She is involved in student organizations, such as the Indigenous Student Association and Sister Circle at Mānoa. Alicia enjoys mālama ʻāina work days in her free time, going to the beach, eating with family and friends, and attending live music concerts.

  • Kallie Lehua Matsuura-Chang (she/her) is a prospective Accounting student under the Shidler College of Business, also pursuing a minor in Hawaiian Studies under Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies. She currently works as an NHSS Research Center & Program Assistant under Native Hawaiian Student Services.

  • Jordan Kalawaiʻa Nunies (he/him) graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Hawaiian Studies, along with a minor in Hawaiian Language, at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in Spring 2025. He is currently a graduate student at the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, working on a critical historiographical inquiry on archival documents related to his birth sands, Āliapaʻakai. He works both as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for HWST 107: Hawaiʻi: Center of the Pacific, under the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies; and, as a NHSS Research Center & Program Assistant under Native Hawaiian Student Services.

  • Kye Kūkahiko (she/her) is a prospective student in Journalism under the College of Social Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Throughout her freshman year, Kye has done numerous social media work for various organizations of the college. She is the Media Manager for Native Hawaiian Student Services and a Social Media Strategist for Mānoa’s Career Center. Kye is also in an internship for UH Athletic's Media Relations department and a member of the College of Social Science’s Digital Studios. Photography and videography is Kye’s passion in life, along with seeing the world.