Policy Analyst
Early Learning & Care
Hometown
Salt Lake City, Utah
What was the most valuable lesson you learned as a child, and how has it influenced your life today?
Rich people don't have a monopoly on creativity.
What was your favorite meal or dish that your family would make, and do you still enjoy it today?
Lu pulu is a traditional Tongan dish made of beef, coconut milk, spices, and taro leaves cooked in an underground oven called an umu.
What was your favorite hobby or extracurricular activity as a child, and did you pursue it further later in life?
Maybe I was a storyteller in a different life but I've loved writing stories as a kid and still do.
What was the most challenging experience you faced as a child, and how did you overcome it?
Overcoming systemic inequities. I'm still struggling to overcome them today through my art, community, and policy work. I guess it's a lifelong pursuit of justice.
What was your favorite thing about being a child, and do you try to hold onto that spirit as an adult?
As a kid, I really believed in the possibility of people and the world. The older I get I try hard to hold onto that because for every person/event that tries to prove my kid-self wrong, there's an equal or greater person/event that proves people are mostly good and the world still is full of positive possibilities.
Biography
Moana 'Ulu'ave was born in Salt Lake City, Utah to parents, both of Niuafo'ou, Tongatapu. She graduated with University Honors from Brigham Young University in English and Sociology. Her honors thesis was entitled, Tauhi Va: Nourishing the Space Between--A Collection of Essays which dealt with her love of growing up in Glendale and her identities as a Mormon, Tongan, and American. In 2014, she graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. After graduate school, Moana pursued a career in public service in her hometown. First, working in her local community center, then as the Bridge Program Director of the Pacific Islands Studies Initiative at the University of Utah, and most recently, as the first Equity Manager for the inaugural Equity team in the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office. During her time of service, she also published multiple creative and academic pieces including, Talanoa: Tongan epistemology and Indigenous research method, To Be Young, Mormon, and Tongan and Land & Sea: Fonua mo ‘Oseni.
