Natasha Saelua

Natasha Saelua is advisor for the Student Initiated Access Center at UCLA. As such, she participates in advocating, funding and evaluating student-initiated, student-run access and outreach programs targeting underrepresented minority groups. An alumna of the Center, Ms. Saelua’s work with PISA (the Pacific Islands Students Association) led her to become conscious of the needs of the Pacific Islander community in Los Angeles. She was a founding member of PISA’s outreach project, PIER (Pacific Islander Education & Retention), which is dedicated to working with high school students in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County. Ms. Saelua later served as chair of UCLA’s Student Initiated Outreach (now Access) Committee, and graduated from UCLA in 2001 with a degree in history and political science. She has worked as a program coordinator at Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc. (LEAP), and currently serves as an advisory board member for the Pacific Islander Pipeline Project, hosted by the Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA). Ms. Saelua is an active member of the Samoan and Pacific Islander communities in both Northern and Southern California, and in her free time enjoys crocheting, playing with her two year old daughter, and poetry.