May might be AAPI Month to a lot of people, but at UTOPIA PDX—Portland’s only queer Pasifika nonprofit—it is Pacific Islander Heritage Month, with everything viewed through a disability justice lens.

From The Islands to Portland

Kāme‘o Kahawai, UTOPIA PDX executive director, is Kānaka ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian of ancestral bones) or Kānaka Maoli Māhū (Native Hawaiian third gender).

“Growing up in Hawai‘i was rough. I grew up around intergenerational poverty, addiction, trauma–and for the most part, my family back home is still living in poverty with food and housing insecurity. Something that’s just really hard for me to accept is that Kānaka Maoli have the least amount of resources and protections on our own land.”

Kāme’o also grew up in the church because it offered their parents free childcare. This eventually led them to seminary, where they graduated at the top of their class before moving to Longview, Washington, to manage the regional chapter of a global religious nonprofit.

“I lasted all of nine months,” Kāme’o said of the conservative Pacific Northwest city where Confederate flags hung on poles and it took three weeks to see another person of color. “The final straw was in a community meeting where an older white woman looked at me and said my opinion didn’t matter because I wasn’t from this country.”

I want to work with my Indigenous community and with trans people.

In 2019, Kāme‘o officially left the church, moved to Portland, and came out as trans. After brief stints at various small local nonprofits, they became co-executive director of a large nonprofit with over 300 staff. However, they quickly burned out, and still didn’t feel like they were with their people.

Kāme‘o’s spouse urged them to write down what they wanted in their next position. “I remember writing things down that I was like, there’s no way. Like I want to work with my Indigenous community and with trans people, and I want to report to a board of directors that shares intersections with myself.”

But one day, Kāme‘o’s spouse sent them a LinkedIn job announcement for the executive director of UTOPIA PDX. At the time, Kāme’o only knew one other QTPI (queer trans Pacific Islander) in Portland. “I was like, where did these people come from? I didn’t even know my people were out here.”

QTPIs In the Pacific Northwest

UTOPIA stands for United Territories of Pacific Islanders Alliance. The Portland chapter, established in 2017, is a nonprofit run by and for Queer and Trans Pacific Islanders who organize to heal through the love of their culture and the love for their people.

“I remember my interview just being so familiar–almost nostalgic,” Kāme‘o said. “I walked in and saw only brown bodies. And I remember being offered something to eat which–of course, because that’s our people. And I remember wearing an Aloha shirt and thinking, yeah, this is professional enough.”

Kāme‘o became executive director of UTOPIA PDX in the summer of 2023.

“Throughout all my jobs it was always difficult because there weren’t people who looked like me. I have never experienced the level of access intimacy that I do at UTOPIA. We have staff and board members whose ancestry traces back to Hawai‘i, American Samoa, Independent Samoa, Guam, Saipan, Tonga, and Fiji–and we are all queer.”

The Transformation of UTOPIA PDX

Since Kāme‘o became executive director, UTOPIA PDX has grown from a team of four to 15 staffers. They have transitioned to a 32-hour work week, unlimited PTO, and six weeks of office closures per year. “Because the work is taxing and our people deserve to rest.”

The nonprofit also moved into their own office suite and safe space, which Kāme‘o described as “game-changing”, and re-organized their programming into four transformative departments: Journey Transformation, Cultural Transformation, Healing Transformation, and Impact Transformation.

The departments offer a range of culturally specific QTPI programming. For example, UTOPIA PDX’s oldest program, The COVE (Creation of Vibrant Exchanges), fosters collective learning through arts and crafts, food, and informal conversation. Oceania Healings supports QTPI individuals, survivors, and their families/support networks with cultural healing practices, resource navigation, and awareness education.

Last fall, UTOPIA PDX received two Oregon Department of Education grants to work with Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander and LGBTQIA2+ youth. The nonprofit went from being in no schools to being in nine. They teach Pasifika values through activities like weaving, lei making, and creating fashion. In middle and high schools, they organize queer community events alongside students and provide mentoring.

The Realities UTOPIA PDX Faces Today

Despite amazing growth over the last couple of years, however, Kāme‘o said today the organization finds itself facing unprecedented challenges.

“Being a culturally specific queer and trans Pacific Islander organization that serves an Indigenous, brown, mixed immigration status community where at least half have some kind of disability–we’re at the intersection of who’s being attacked right now. We’ve lost funding and opportunities and it’s a real struggle.” 

This is Kāme‘o’s fourth executive director role, and they described this moment as uncharted waters. “Most of my career as an executive, I’ve said if money is the biggest of our problems that’s okay because there’s always money to be had. That’s not the case anymore.”

UTOPIA PDX is also still fighting to just be seen in Oregon, Kāme‘o said, a state where the majority of residents are cis-het and white. For example, in Portland, the state’s largest city by far, there are only two other culturally specific queer organizations that Kāme‘o is aware of.

How You Can Support

Kāme‘o said there are lots of ways the community can support UTOPIA PDX, especially in this moment: 

• Donate and buy merch. A meaningful gift always makes a difference.
• Attend Afi Pasifika: Flames of Resistance, their annual benefit, on August 9. 
• Subscribe to the UTOPIA PDX newsletter on their website.
• Follow UTOPIA PDX on social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn)
• Volunteer
• Come to Adult Queer Prom in December!

“UTOPIA PDX is more than just staff. We’re more than a nonprofit,” said Kāme‘o. “We’re a pillar in the community, and as community leaders, we are called upon to show up, regardless.”

Written by Sharon Ho Chang, SJF Strategic Communications Manager

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