Central Valley
Pacific Islander Alliance
Our Mission
Our Vision
Weave a trusted and sustainable network of NHPI organizations and community members to serve, empower, and advocate for our growing Central Valley village.
A thriving Central Valley Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community rooted in our cultures and guided by our ancestors
Our Story
Founded in April 2021 by six NHPI volunteers, CVPIA was established to address urgent needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the creation of the region’s first NHPI vaccine site. Each founder mobilized independently to meet the critical needs of their
communities. The overwhelming success of the vaccination efforts led to a community-driven demand for a formal organization, giving rise to the Central Valley Pacific Islander Alliance (CVPIA).
CVPIA is a social justice organization dedicated to serving, advocating for, and elevating Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities based in the Central Valley of California. CVPIA aims to cultivate a safe space for all NHPI identities, while standing in solidarity with other marginalized organizations and communities, through fostering connections to culture and each other, elevating NHPI voices, and providing resource navigation support.
We currently serve more than 1,500 community members in 11 counties across the Central Valley: Sacramento, San Joaquin, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Tulare, Kings, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Mariposa and Kern.Among the ethnic groups served are Samoan, Tongan, Native Hawaiian, Palauan, Fijian, Chuukese, CHamorro, and Marshallese.
Our Values
Diversity
We celebrate diversity in Pasifika identities and illustrate representation spanning across the Pacific Ocean, and we believe in the competitive advantage they provide.
Equity
We commit to and advocate for equitable policies that affect all Pasifika identities and to ensure equitable access to opportunities throughout the Central Valley and beyond.
Accountability
We hold each other accountable to past, present, and future generations.
Community
We recognize and respect that we live and grow on the lands of the Tachi Yokuts and Miwok. We stand in solidarity with the indigenous peoples of these lands, as well as the Asian and Asian American, Black, Latinx, and LGBTQIA communities.
Accessibility
We strive to eliminate barriers and maximize accessibility.
Mana. Kåna.
We honor the mana/kåna, or life force, that connects all Pasifika peoples and our sea of islands.
Our Logo
The Central Valley is the breadbasket of this country. The farmers, laborers, and individuals who come together to feed and fuel the nation, come from all walks of life. They weave together a beautiful network of those who, while not having walked a mile in respective shoes, can walk side by side through a vast expanse of land and possibility to uplift and uphold.
CVPIA was formed by Pacific Islanders, for Pacific Islanders. The basket in this logo - a woven basket - calls attention to the Central Valley’s heritage and to our cultural legacy of weaving together an array of materials to produce something both functional and beautiful. For thousands of years until this present day, we intertwine sustainable, locally sourced materials from our lands and waters to create goods for everyday living and sacred traditions and ceremonies.
Through the mountains and across the valley, the sun peeks through the horizon, alluding to new and brighter days ahead, and referencing CVPIA’s vision for its community as time moves forward.
From uplifting one another to the combined efforts across the Central Valley, the Native Hwaiian and Pacific Islander community can create a beautiful future together.