May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month. The theme for 2025 is “A Legacy of Leadership and Resilience,” honoring the hard work of AANHPI leaders who established a foundation for future generations to thrive and adapt to change and adversity.
This month is a time to advocate for, celebrate with, and learn about AANHPI people. It is also time to recognize how throughout history, AANHPIs have transformed adversity into opportunities for innovation, resulting in lasting change that resonates beyond our community and has positively impacted our world.
The rich diversity under the AANHPI umbrella
This month is also a special time to reflect on the vast and diverse cultures that make up this community. The AANHPI umbrella includes more than 50 ethnic groups, speaking over 100 languages, with histories spanning from the Asian continent to the Pacific Ocean’s many island nations.
Asia itself represents six major subregions, each with its own distinct traditions, languages, and stories:
East Asia (including China, Japan, and Korea), Southeast Asia (including Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines), South Asia (including India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka), Central Asia (including Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan), Western Asia (sometimes referred to as the Middle East, including countries like Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon), and Northern Asia (also referred to as Siberia). Alongside these, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities bring rich Indigenous traditions deeply rooted in their islands and oceanic heritage.
Spanning thousands of miles across continents and oceans, AANHPI peoples represent a beautiful mosaic of countries, kingdoms, languages, history, and traditions. The term “AANHPI” itself is a relatively new and growing part of our shared language — a way to honor and recognize these rich identities while also creating spaces for connection, community, advocacy, and support.
OYA’s AANHPI Services
Because AANHPI people represent so many different cultures, our services for AANHPI youth reflect that. The work in OYA’s AANHPI groups is youth-driven, if it is under the category of culturally responsive services. Cultural explorations include film studies, discussions, activities, arts and crafts, music, cultural celebrations, and events. The groups focus on who is in the population at any given time—for example, if there are Micronesian Islander youth, then the group will explore themes around Micronesian Islander culture.
“Part of OIIR’s mission is to create spaces to teach other all the different cultures that exist to encourage healthy relationships and promote understanding,” states Paulo Futi, AANHPI Program Coordinator with the Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations (OIIR). “If we’re wanting them to build relationships, then we should understand where people come from.”
For many youths, the AANHPI groups offer them an opportunity for a deeper understanding of their identity, “When you realize who you are and where you’re from, you can see who you could be. You have a whole island of people, the same as you. A whole culture, as same as you. But where you came from, you may have not seen that.”
When youth gravitate toward that, “Respect, family, inclusiveness, understanding, compassion—that’s a skill set,” he explains, “You can paint for them that new picture of who they can grow into.” Paulo’s approach is based on cultural competency and knowing that culture is prevention. “The more I can teach youth that environment can affect identity, the more the youth would understand their culture, and at least have a starting point to exploring a part of themselves that they would otherwise not and partly because it’s about being excepted into a space and feeling like family, which for a lot of our youth it’s not what they are used to.”
AANHPI Staff Reflections
One of the most important protective factors for AANHPI youth is having staff at OYA who have lived experience and understand their background. Staff from across the agency reflect on the importance of this month for them:
Ian Rigterink, OIIR – “Culture is important to me because it shows us the differences but also the similarities amongst us and allows us to all connect and share with one another.”
Selesa Wong, MacLaren – “I feel API is so very important as there is not a lot of knowledge and support for our API youth. But thanks to Paulo, he does an amazing job helping with this as he doesn’t just show the fun things about Pacific Islanders. Most feel we are just strong and funny people but forget how difficult it is to find our place in the mainland away from our Islands especially in a locked-up setting where there are not very many Pacific Islanders. As for the Pacific Islanders, he has shared how important it is to be proud and learn as much as they can about their culture whether it’s food, music, dancing, history and language. Most Pacific Islanders don’t get the support they need for their families (financial, education, housing, food, etc…) and tend to struggle which leads them to making poor choices so it would be nice for them to get more support.”
Amber Enomoto-Haole, Development Services – “Polynesian culture is important to me because we value family, the community for strong mutual support and cooperation. As well as having a deep connection to the land, art, customs and traditions.”
New AANHPI Advisory Committee Welcoming New Members
OYA is establishing an AANHPI Advisory Committee to advise, assist, consult, and make recommendations to OYA and OIIR management and staff to support and meet the needs of AANHPI youth in OYA custody. It is not a governing (decision-making) committee but will be offering support, recommendations, and advising on policy and program development expansion, family engagement, transitioning/re-entry services, hiring, and other topics.
If you are interested in joining the committee, please email Paulo at Paulo.Futi@oya.oregon.gov.
