Sabrina Suluai-Mahuka

Sabrina Suluai-Mahuka, 2021 Territorial Teacher of the Year for American Samoa, is the sole proprietor for Suluai-Mahuka Consulting and currently serves as the principal for South Pacific Academy. Sabrina was the first American Samoan to win the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators from the US Environmental Protection Agency for Region 9 and she was also the first Pacific Islander to win an EE 30 Under 30 award for the North American Association for Environmental Education. Since 2019, Sabrina represented American Samoa at various Young Pacific Leaders events such as the general conference, the YPL Small Grants Program, the YPL Civic Engagement Program, the YPL TechCamp, and the YPL inaugural Marine Sustainability Workshop. Hence, she is the first chairperson of the Young Pacific Leader’s Alumni Network. Sabrina is the founder of the nonprofit organization Finafinau, which focuses on youth advocacy for the environment. With student chapters in three districts of Tutuila, Sabrina works as the organization’s Executive Director with over 200 youth each year to coordinate coast clean-ups, tree planting, and school outreach visits, with the hope of promoting environmental conservation and resilience. Inspired to represent her Asian Pacific Islander heritage, Sabrina is an author and editor as her current passion lies in creating literature to elevate Pacific stories from Pacific people. To date, Sabrina is the author of three children’s books and the editor of two Pacific anthologies. Sabrina earned her Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she also served as a graduate instructor for educators from various island nations across Polynesia and Micronesia.