Mike is the current Dean of the University of Washington's School of Social Work and serves as the director of Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Oceanic Affairs at the University of Washington's Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI). His research examines health and wellness among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders and is focused on interventions that promote health among Native Hawaiians through indigenous practices and values.

Max is a multiracial Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) and Chinese clinical psychologist and research scientist at the Social Development Research Group in the University of Washington’s School of Social Work. His research seeks to understand risk and protective factors for later substance use and mental health problems among youth and young adults in order to inform preventive interventions. In his work he centers key aspects of identity as determinants of mental health.

Santino is a CHamoru doctoral student at the School of Social Work. His research focuses on the application of cultural resurgence and survivance in culturally rooted health promotion for Queer and Transgender Pacific Islanders; the codification of CHamoru and Pasifika values in Indigenous health research; and Indigenous and Pasifika health equity broadly.

Koa is a mixed Sāmoan research social worker who is guided by her ancestors, with a responsibility to uplift and serve her communities. Storytelling and reclamation work have been at the core of her journey; honoring the essence, paths, and lands of her people. Her work reflects narratives around healing/decolonization movements, child development, Indigenous led research, and Indigenous empowerment with the strong belief that culture and identity is the root of wellness. She currently works as the Data Sovereignty Specialist at Hummingbird Indigenous Family Services as well as on other projects that are rooted in community research and collaboration. 

Buddy is a Kānaka Maoli researcher in the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI). His research centers on Indigenized community health for diaspora Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders through culturally grounded, biomedical, and community-based methodologies. Buddy is currently a medical student at the University of Washington's School of Medicine. 

Mikyla is a Palauan and Dinè/Navajo student pursuing her Masters in Social Work and Public Health at UW. Her research focuses on Indigenous identity and mental health, curriculum that is inclusive and representative of Pasifika and Native American peoples, and culturally grounded health promotion. 

Jason is a Kanaka Maoli undergraduate student at the University of Washington intending to major in Biology: Physiology. He is interested in uplifting NHPI and indigenous communities and hoping to create equity for these groups within the medical and healthcare sectors. He is excited to join Ola Pacifika and wants to learn all he can!

Reya is a Kanaka Maoli and Samoan physician scientist originally from Hawai’i. She is a pediatric nephrologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital focused on promotion of kidney and cardiometabolic health in Indigenous communities. Her research centers partnership with Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities to co-develop prevention programs for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander youth through culture and strengths-based approaches.

Jenn Nguyễn is a second-generation Vietnamese-Cambodian doctoral candidate in the University of Washington’s College of Education. Before pursuing her doctorate, she served as a teacher and school administrator and her practices were grounded in culturally sustaining pedagogies that honor students’ languages, histories, and identities as assets in their learning. Her research examines how educational systems and practices can be reimagined to support the holistic well-being of Asian diasporic youth.

Tressa P. Diaz is a mixed Chamoru and Filipino Associate Professor at the Division of Social Work at the University of Guam (UOG) and a co-lead for the Community Outreach Core at the UOG Cancer Research Center. She is committed to health as a human right, exploring intergenerational narratives, Indigenous health, and cancer survivorship in Micronesia.