Honoring Matri-ICONs Pt. II

Women’s History Month rolls on! This week, we’re highlighting another 6 women and femmes who have supported The Chapter House and its staff in different ways. (Please remember that although these 31 days are officially set aside to celebrate women, we honor and celebrate them 24/7 — 365 days a year!)

Tavae Samuelu is the Executive Director of Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC), based here on Tongva Land/LA. As the Executive Director, Tavae provides strategic oversight towards realizing EPIC’s mission to promote social justice by engaging the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities through culturally-relevant development, advocacy, and research. Tavae is the sort of woman who can get on a Zoom call to opine about the importance of practicing anti-racism as an organization, then immediately turn around to shower her niece with affection. We have gained so much inspiration from Tavae’s thoughtfulness, her commitment to bettering her community, and her generosity of spirit with other communities.

i: @tavaes

Sina Uipi is the Washington D.C.-based policy associate with EPIC. Sina leads Empowering Pacific Islanders Communities’ (EPIC) national policy and advocacy efforts towards the organization's mission to advance social justice and increase the political power of Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities. She loves that she is in a position that empowers and encourages her to use her voice and those of all those who came before her. In her work, she is guided by the value of tauhi vā, which means to nurture or take care of the relationships you have with others. In this way, she uses Pasifika cultural values as ways to navigate in spaces they typically are not in, like national policy. Sina has been a great friend to us over at TCH since we met last year, and we’re excited to continue our friendship for years to come.

Terisa Siagatonu is an award-winning published poet, teaching artist, community leader, and proud Samoan who reps the Bay Area. Terisa’s work ranges from poems like Altas where she beautifully and eloquently critiques American imperialism and colonialism on her homelands, to The Price I Pay For(ever) My Culture, where she grapples with the challenges of being queer and Samoan. Not only is she good with words, but she also holds a Bachelor's degree in Community Studies and minor in Education from the University of California- Santa Cruz and a Masters Degree in Marriage/Family Therapy from the University of Southern California (USC), and was a practicing therapist. You might encounter her words and performances going viral on Instagram and Twitter, but Terisa is also a dedicated friend, family member, accomplice to BIPOC communities, especially in the Bay, as well as one of the Chapter House’s biggest supporters. Her work teaches us to be more generous, more fierce, and more loving to our communities and for our liberation.

i: @terisasiagatonu | t: @terisasiagatonu

Yma Dandridge is the Culture and Operations Manager at DigDeep. Many of us here at The Chapter House have had the privilege to work with Yma for a few years. In that time, we became lucky to call her our friend as well. Yma is uniquely generous, thoughtful, curious, and dedicated in all aspects of her life, whether it’s in her work, in her reading, with her friends and family, or in her athletic pursuits (Ms. LA Marathon over here!). She is a huge supporter of Indigenous causes and movements, and does important things like shops Native (and encourages others to do the same), pushes for land acknowledgments and education about land back, donates to Native orgs (like TCH), and is always open to learning something new, and very importantly sharing these things with others. One of the realest badasses we know.

i: @zeemzeema

Aria Villajin, also known by her stage name Pearl Teese, is a proud Black and Filipina trans woman, drag performer, program coordinator/advocate for a mental health organization in San Francisco, sister and friend. Born and raised in the Bay Area, Aria began doing drag before her transition, and has been entertaining for almost 10 years. She credits drag to helping her embrace her gender identity, and has since performed and curated shows at venues and events such as Asia SF, SF Pride, Strut SF, and, due to the pandemic, online and in music videos. Aria is graciously committed to her community and a passionate advocate for mental health, trans rights, and Black lives. “I think a lot of us need some kind of help and I am someone who needed that help when I was younger and I didn’t have it,” Aria said in a New York Times article. Her advocacy, authenticity and warmth inspires us to advocate for younger generations and those who need our help.

i: @pearlteese | t: @pearlteese

Annie Lascoe is the Director of Development at Accountability Counsel and was previously the Chief Relationship Officer at DigDeep. She has been a super-supporter of The Chapter House since day -1. Annie is quite likely the most positive, enthusiastic person on Earth, and she uses her powers to lift up other women, underserved communities, and people of color. Annie’s friends at TCH can always count on her to offer us advice, feedback, hype, incredible restaurant recommendations, and love. Love ya right back, Lascoe!