Samara Suafo’a

Samara Suafo’a is the Interim Director of the Department of Teacher Education and Clinical Assistant Professor at Claremont Graduate University. Her positionality as a biracial Samoan/White student-athlete born on the island of O’ahu, Hawai’i, uniquely informs both her practice and research. Specifically, she draws upon her own K-16 experiences as a member of a minoritized community who took advantage of athletics to mitigate the lack of access to resources and inequities she experienced along her educational trajectory.

Prior to joining CGU’s Department of Teacher Education, Suafo’a’s professional experience comprised 22 years of teaching, leadership, and administrative roles in K-12 urban educational settings in both Hawai’i and California. These roles included serving as a special day class teacher for students with moderate-severe dis/abilities, resource teacher, new teacher mentor, special education program coordinator, local district integration support provider, and high school women’s basketball coach.

Her research interests include Indigenous research methodologies; the Indigenous art of storytelling as a high-impact practice in K-16 classrooms; Intersectionality of Dis/ability Research and Critical Social Justice; Role of Relationships as a Foundation for Creating Positive Classroom and School Ecologies; the intersectionality of race and athletics w/in K-16 systems; College Choice for historically minoritized communities; Impact of Colonization on the Educational Trajectory of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders (NHPIs); Critical Social Justice in K-16 Education; Anti Racist/Anti Bias Pedagogy in K-16 classrooms.

Suafo’a’s professional affiliations include CEO of Suafoa Strong, Inc., Founder & CEO of Under the Ulu Tree, LLC Educational Consulting, member of Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Educators Collective (NHPIEC), member of American Education Research Association (AERA), member of National Pacific Islander Education Network (NPIEN), and educational consultant to Quarterback Influence (QBI), a private athletic organization based in Los Angeles, to implement anti-bias/anti-racist coaching practices.

Suafo’a holds a PhD in Urban Leadership from Claremont Graduate University, a master’s degree in special education with an emphasis on students with moderate-severe dis/abilities from the California State University at Dominguez Hills, and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Linfield University.