“We are here to speak for ourselves, to decide our own strategies, and to plan our own futures. We are not here as members of minority groups or as adjuncts to male organizations but as Native women determined to link our peoples in a common cause for self-determination.”
Haunani-Kay Trask
story
about
Alyshia Alohalani Macaysa-Feracota is a community organizer, facilitator, and nationally recognized public health practitioner. The heart of her work is building life-affirming justice through a decolonized public health practice. Alyshia’s body of work includes systems-shifting initiatives that have placed the wisdom and experiences of front line communities at the center of decision-making. This includes designing and facilitating the City of Portland’s Smart City PDX Community Leads cohort, Oregon Public Health Division’s Pacific Islander Data Modernization project, and the Oregon Resource Allocation Advisory Committee. Her specific interests include research and data justice, upstream technology & health equity policy making, and community-led strategic initiatives.
In 2019, Alyshia was inducted into Robert Wood Johnson Foundations fourth Culture of Health Leaders (CoHL) cohort - a nationally renowned leadership development and innovation program led by the country’s largest health-focused philanthropic entity. Additionally, Alyshia served on Multnomah County’s Public Health Advisory Board and the OR Governor’s Racial Justice Health Equity Committee. She is a proud founding board member of suma - a digital justice non-profit, and the founding Executive Director of the Oregon Pacific Islander Coalition. Most recently, Alyshia was named a 2022 Distinguished Alumni by the University of California at Berkeley’s School of Social Welfare.
When Alyshia is not working she enjoys following the works of classical painters of color, swimming, listening to music hella loud, and spending time with her loved ones.
approach
guiding principles
liberation through wholeness
We must imagine a world outside of the fragmented reality created by capitalism and white supremacy. Our ability to heal lies within our ability to see the connection between all living systems, and to give our selves space to exist beyond reductive Western understandings of race, gender, relationships, ability, and more.
the people are my platform
Not an organization. Not an initiative. Not a funding stream. That means my work answers to, is in service to, and is driven by the communities on the front lines.
SELF DETERMINATION IS NECESSARY
“White people too often get centered as the beacon of good health.” - Dr. Aileen Duldulao. There is an assumption that what they have, is what we need. What we need is power over our neighborhoods, our stories, and our lives.
collective liberation
We must center solidarity over competition. We must unlearn any notions of scarcity, any notions of hierarchy, and any notion that one individual can do the work alone.
Books are closed for the 2024 calendar year.
alyshia@alyshiamacaysa.com
“I do not want to fight colonial systems anymore. Nor do I want to become a part of their system & ‘destroy from within.’ I simply want to live in Indigenous systems. That is my definition of freedom.”
