This session will focus on issues impacting the Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander community-particularly around environmental developments, impact of tourism, and the intersection between identity and the environment.
Moderator
Meeyoung Tawerilmal | Advocate, ASP
Meeyoung is an active Educator, Accredited Staging Professional and Entrepreneur expanding creativity in art and spaces from Federated States of Micronesia. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Leadership and Management. Her advocacy work and vast leadership focuses on community organizations and Compact of Free Association issues.
Panelists
Dr. Adelaida Rosario | Scientist with the USPHS Commissioned Corps
Dr. Adi M. Rosario is a Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) with the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in the Office of the Surgeon General. She holds a position in the Commissioned Corps Headquarters supporting the administrative function of the service. She deployed in early 2020 to Yokohama and Tokyo, Japan where she was part of a U.S. federal government COVID-19 response team for the Diamond Princess cruise ship to rapidly assess the status of American passengers hospitalized in Japan and obtain compassionate use of Remdesivir as treatment for the critically ill. She is regularly called on by the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA) to assist with media for the “We Can Do This” COVID-19 Public Education campaign directed at the Latino and Asian American Pacific Islander communities, and has appeared in a number of nationally broadcast public service announcements representing HHS and Office of the Surgeon General. Dr. Rosario previously worked as a Program Director at NIH’s National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) and was an editor and contributing author on the Wiley Publication textbook The Science of Health Disparities Research. She is a social scientist with a Social Work and Pacific health background. Her research focuses on health behaviors and cultural, spiritual, and social determinants as factors influencing health disparities for minority communities, specifically Hispanic and Pacific Islander populations. Dr. Rosario has also explored the role of indigenous spiritual systems and how they may complement western healthcare systems.
Dr. Rosario currently resides in Maryland. She earned her Ph.D. in Social Welfare from Florida International University (FIU), M.A. in Pacific Micronesian Studies from the University of Guam, and a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Religious Studies from FIU.
Angelo Villagomez | Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
Angelo Villagomez is a Chamorro conservationist and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he focuses on Indigenous-led conservation. He was born in Guam, an island in the western Pacific Ocean next to the Mariana Trench, and holds bachelor’s degrees in biology and environmental policy. For the last 20 years he has advocated for the protection of marine monuments in the Pacific islands and global shark conservation. He is one of the architects for the movement to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030.
Esther Wozniak | Manager, International Fisheries
Esther Wozniak is a manager with Pew’s international fisheries project, working to reform high seas longline fishing by improving transshipment regulation and monitoring longline fisheries. She focuses on advocacy efforts within countries, with regional fisheries management organizations, and with United Nations agencies to ensure the sustainability of global fisheries. Wozniak previously worked on Pew’s global shark conservation project, leading efforts in the Pacific region to manage and conserve sharks and rays. She also successfully pushed for protections to regulate international trade of sharks and rays at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. In addition to her conservation work, Wozniak focuses on multiple efforts within Pew to advance inclusion, diversity, and equity.
Before joining Pew, Wozniak worked on the intersection between ocean science and policy at the University of the South Pacific, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, where she provided conservation research support for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Esther is part Fijian and holds a bachelor’s degree in marine science from the University of the South Pacific, Fiji.
More About The Washington Leadership Program
The Washington Leadership Program (WLP) provides a space for young AANHPI students interning in Washington, D.C. to come together, build community, and explore their heritage within the context of public service. Through six sessions over the summer, WLP introduces students to AANHPI public service leaders who can inform and inspire students’ own civic engagement.
The Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL) seeks to empower Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) youth by increasing access to public service opportunities and building a strong AANHPI public service pipeline. We envisions a future with equitable AANHPI representation throughout all levels of government and public service.
By registering for CAPAL’s Washington Leadership Program, you give permission to be recorded or photographed during the session. Food provided at this event may contain nuts, dairy, gluten, and other allergens. Vegetarian options will be available. We kindly ask for all guests to follow our mask-required policy.