The Hon. Manufou Liaiga-Anoa`i

The Hon. Manufou Liaiga-Anoa`i, is a proud San Francisco native and first generation Samoan-American. A product of public education, she was re-elected this past November to serve her third term on the Jefferson Elementary School District in Daly City and currently serves as a Commissioner on the City of Daly City Personnel Board, San Mateo County Arts Commission - District 5 Representative, Board Member to P.I.E.F.E.S.T. - Pacific Islanders Encouraging Fun, Engineering, Science & Technology, Committee Member of Regional Pacific Islander Health Task Force and on the Board of Directors for REACH San Mateo County.

For the past ten years she has been a Commissioner to the San Mateo County and Past Vice President on the Commission of Status Women, is a Commissioner on the City of Daly City Arts and Culture Commission, Congresswoman Jackie Speier’s Asian Pacific Islander Caucus, Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center Board and Lowell High School Alumni Board of Directors. Manufou recently joined the Innovate Public Schools team as Regional Vice President for San Jose. She previously served as the Health and Nutrition Services Manager for Izzi Early Education (formerly IHSD - Institute for Human and Social Development) which serves as the Head Start and Early Head Start - Early Childhood Education sites throughout San Mateo County.

In 2009, she founded Pacific Islander Community Partnership whose mission is to “Engage, Educate & Empower Our Pacific Communities” and in 2011 created Camp Unity - Polynesian Pacific Islander Summer Enrichment Program which has served 8,000 Bay Area students over the past ten years.

In May of 2019, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond appointed her as Co-Chair to the Closing the Gap Initiative where she continues to advocate for equity, inclusion and access.

Manufou served as the first Pacific Islander Liaison and District 11 Aide to former San Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. during his tenure. She was also a member of former Mayor Edwin Lee’s Asian Pacific Heritage Committee.

She has lent her voice and experience over the years as a keynote speaker, panelist and community advocate locally, nationwide and in her Oceanic communities abroad.

Her leadership has been recognized and celebrated as Woman of the Year in the California Assembly, in the City and County of San Francisco by Mayors Willie Brown and Edwin Lee, San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and nationally through the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.