Our Work

The Pacific Islander Community Association (PICA, PICA-WA) is a statewide 501(c)3 nonprofit that aims to serve Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NH/PI) communities who call Washington home through various direct services and programs, as well as systems advocacy that are aligned with our 12 wellness policy priorities.

 

Our organization was established as a nonprofit in 2019, to respond to the unmet needs of Pasifika communities across Washington State

Mission

Our mission is to establish a cultural home, center community power, and advocate to the further the wellness of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NH/PI) communities in Washington.

Vision

We envision Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander communities who are thriving physically, socially, culturally, and spiritually.

Our Values

Woven into all pieces of our collective work, these values help guide and hold us accountable to the communities we serve in our efforts to achieve our mission.

Va Tapuia (Samoan)

Sacred Relations
We are committed to establishing deep and accountable communities through building strong relations, networks, and coalitions between our communities from across all regions of Oceania.

Vunilagi (Fijian)

Horizon Gazing
A key value of Navigators is to always gaze toward the horizon, dreaming of what our futures can be for our descendants. We work to usher in a future that is humane for those yet to come.

Mana (Polynesian)

Power
We acknowledge the spiritual and cultural power of NH/PI communities to determine their social and political futures in advancing justice locally, nationally, and globally.

Aliliseoch (Chuukese)

Sacred Hospitality
We are committed to fostering an environment where our communities can feel love, safety, and dignity.

Anemkwoj (Marshallese)

Liberation
We work towards the ultimate goal of liberation for our NH/PI people, where our communities are able to perpetuate our Oceanian traditions.

Kotahitanga (Maori)

Inclusive Collective
We are an expansive body and welcome all members of our community, including our queer and trans siblings. We are an intergenerational community that celebrates our elders and holds the highest value for our children.

Our Wellness Policy Priorities

Created with community input and based off the most critical needs being addressed through our direct service and systems advocacy work, these these priorities guide our systems advocacy work and serve as a values system for how we believe systems and institutions should be working with and serving our NH/PI communities.

NH/PI Political Autonomy

Many NH/PIs aren’t able to vote due to COFA, US National, or undocumented status. We stand with efforts to build up civic education and power within oppressed communities in helping them in getting a sense of their own power politically. We believe in full voting suffrage for Pacific Islanders who have made the US their home

Food Sovereignty

Pasifika communities have traditionally accessed their lands and oceans to provide sustenance for their families. Through environmental racism, many in our communities are now exposed to colonized diet that is disembodied from land and culture. Access to healthy foods is critical for Pasifika well-being. We support food sovereignty movements that elevate localized food justice solutions.

Housing Justice

Many NH/PIs facing housing insecurity often do not engage with housing service providers due to institutional paternalism and prescriptions, linguistic racism, and culturally irresponsive services that are not aligned with Pasifika cultural values. PICA-WA champions housing solutions that doesn’t break our families apart and lean on the family for the solutions.

Immigration Justice

Xenophobia goes hand in hand with white supremacy and has littered the ways that our national and local government systems continue to dehumanize the lives of those who are undocumented through policies that enforce an economic embargo in immigrant communities of color. PIs who are undocumented face enforced poverty and a broken system that locks them up in detention centers. PICA-WA supports immigration policies that create pathways to citizenship/residency and policies that offer immediate economic relief.

Health Justice

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the devastating fact that NH/PIs face the worst health disparities compared to all other racial groups – intersections of COFA, US National, undocumented status, and chronic low wages in employment fields where NH/PIs work have all led to a significant part of the community lacking healthcare coverage expounding negative consequences in health outcomes for NH/PIs. PICA-WA combats these harms by fighting for accessible and culturally responsive healthcare.

Justice System Transformation

We support the decriminalization of our NH/PI communities and restorative justice solutions that center community leadership in co-designing rehabilitation that centers the liberation of our incarcerated Pasifika family. We champion healing practices that restores harmony where those who have harmed and victims of harm are given real pathways to healing.

Police Accountability

Pasifika communities have suffered under policing policies that are birthed from anti-Indigenous and anti-Black sentiment. We are in alignment with restructuring our policing systems so it reflects the values of the communities they serve. We stand with the Black Lives Matter movement and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s Movement and call on the defunding of harmful policing systems while investing in public safety methods based on restorative justice principles.

Data Sovereignty

The harmful lumping of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders under the “API” label have led to the erasure of NH/PIs in the past decades in aggregated data but it has also led to the decades of political and funding disinvestment in NH/PI community infrastructure. PICA-WA is determined to fight for full data sovereignty not just for NH/PIs but for other Indigenous communities who are overlooked in data collection methods. We are committed to decolonizing data collection.

Pasifika Liberation

PICA-WA is aligned with all Indigenous Pasifika movements struggling to regain control over the stewardship of Pasifika soil, oceans, waters and mountains. We align with West Papuan liberation efforts, Pacific-led climate justice efforts, the fight to protect water and mountain and also the struggle of Indigenous Pasifikans to be free of military occupation and nuclear poison from their traditional homelands

Holistic Education

PICA-WA believes that our Pasifika youth and their families are the best stewards of their educational journey – Pasifika youth suffer from the highest rates of suspension and expulsions according to OSPI data reports. Explicit racism from faculty who know little of our youth have led to dismal outcomes for our youth. We support educational policies that is rooted in cultural identity development and resourcing poor schools through equitable funding solutions.

QTPI Inclusion

We believe in the full integration of our Queer & Trans Pacific Islander (QTPI) siblings including Mahu, Fa’afafine, Fa’atane, Leiti, Vakasalewalewa, Gela and other Two-Spirit identities across Oceania that reflects our Indigenous references and commitment to decolonizing Christian and Western notions of the gender binary that continues to harm members of our communities.

Language Justice

NH/PI languages retain cultural and spiritual traditions and protocols rooted in stewardship with the Earth. We believe that the technology that is our Indigenous languages need to be nurtured and perpetuated for generations to come. Our languages point back to the Pasifika soul – without it, we lose our soul. We lift up language justice and language access for all of our Pasifika languages.
Check out our 2024 WA State NH/PI Community Data Report

Our Team

We are women-led, intergenerational, and one hundred percent of our staff and board identify as NH/PI and Indigenous. Our staff and board are diverse in age, ability, gender identity including our Samoan cultural third gender (fa’afafine) as well as sexuality, lived experience and citizenship status ranging from U.S. citizen to undocumented and COFA resident to U.S. National and refugee. Like our community, our staff and board also range in identifying as caregivers, formerly experiencing poverty and/or homelessness, displacement due to nuclear testing, immigrants, and survivors.

Meet Our Team
Spokane
Federal Way
Vancouver

Today, Washington is home to the highest population of NH/PIs in the U.S., outside of Hawai’i and California. As such, PICA works in various regions of Washington providing no cost support services and programs to engage and support our communities across the state.

We have office locations in Federal Way, Vancouver, and Spokane (coming soon!)

🔔 Office Closure

Please note, our offices are closed on June 19, 2025 in observance of Juneteenth.

We will be back to regular working hours Friday, June 20th. Kinisou, Vinaka, Malo ‘Aupito, Kuloh, Thank You!

🔔 Office Closure Reminder

Our offices are closed on Monday, January 20th in observance of MLK Day.
We will return to regular hours on Tuesday, January 21st.
 
If you are a community member seeking immediate support, please consider contacting 2-1-1 or visiting their website at https://wa211.org/. You may also leave us a message at (206) 686-5221 or contact@picawa.org and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience and understanding!