In this reflection episode, the team share their biggest takeaways from the journey of putting together this podcast. We want to extend our thanks to our guests, contributors, and everyone involved.

For more information about AAPI-FORCE-EF, please visit: https://aapiforce-ef.org/

Our final episode of the 🌊Making Waves Podcast 🌊features Tonga Victoria from Anamatangi Polynesian Voices! Join us as we discuss the 2022 Tonga Relief efforts after the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption. We share stories of solidarity, break down the labels of “AAPI,” and discuss what it means to be Pacific Islander living in America.

You can find this episode wherever you listen to podcasts! Links in our bio in our carrd (aapiforceef.carrd.co) and on our website aapiforce-ef.org. 

Tonga Victoria is a first generation Tongan-American who grew up in East Palo Alto, California. Running for local office as a jumpstart into grassroots community work, Tonga Victoria has since served over 1,000 individuals, youth, and families and developed curriculum, leaders, and media campaigns across the state of California. In 2022, she deepened her commitment to building grassroots communications, and successfully led several media campaigns, including the California humanitarian relief campaign, To Tonga With Love. Currently, Tonga Victoria is a Master’s candidate for the Communications Management Program at University of Southern California , and splits her time living between the Kingdom of Tonga and Silicon Valley, California. 

The team behind our podcast are our supervolunteers Kevin Li (@goldensun8891), Kristin Li (@kristinliii), and Raymond Luu (@kazoo.15), and our Grassroots Leadership Manager, Rozlind Silva. Podcast cover art by Cynthia Yuan Cheng (@cynthiaycheng) and music by Shinyen (@shinyenmusic).

The agriculturally abundant Central Valley of California, which stretches from Sacramento Valley down to Bakersfield, represents a unique political climate within the broader landscape of California. 

In this episode, join us as we speak to two leaders (Naindeep Singh from the Jakara Movement and Tammy Vang from Hmong Innovating Politics) about what it’s like to build progressive power in the region and how they each approach movement building in the context of the AAPI umbrella.