Activist and Founder of Brown Girl Woke, Doris Tulifau | “With consistency, resilience, and the right team, the impact of your hard work will come through”

Doris Tulifau, founder of Brown Girl Woke, shares her story of resilience, tenacious advocacy and love for her community as she navigated higher education before pursuing her community advocacy work around gender equity in Samoa and American Samoa. She gives advice to people interested in becoming community organizers and working in the nonprofit field.

Tell us about your background.

I grew up in South San Francisco in a very sheltered, traditional and typically religious Samoan family. My uncle was a pastor, one of the first to bring the Samoan congregation church to San Francisco. My parents are from Samoa, grew up in New Zealand and then moved to the US for better life and to help with the ministry. After high school, my whole family moved to Modesto and sold our homes to buy our own church and land.

I was one of those crazy scholars who loved school and was super involved in community organizing activities. I went to Sac State, where I double majored in Education/Psychology and then got my Masters in Multicultural Education. While in school, I revived our Pacific Islander student club and founded the first after school program at 5 high schools serving Pacific Islanders with significant high school dropout rates.

As someone who was surrounded by issues of gender equity, domestic violence and sexual abuse, I was interested in conducting PhD research on these topics. When I would attend conferences, I remember being the only Pacific Islander in the room. I eventually had a calling to go back home and do the research there. Instead of completing my PhD, I decided to stay at home and work directly with the community.

I also work in American Samoa and built poetry slam conference in April for Sexual Assault Awareness Month and in October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I use these tools for our youth to speak about these taboo issues. It’s been life changing having so many high schools and youth speak up about so many different issues in our community. It’s been going strong for 3 years. We’re learning to navigate these sensitive topics, bring awareness, and help people heal. As a survivor of domestic violence and sexual abuse, I wanted to make sure to tell these stories, so it doesn’t happen to the next generations.

You are now the founder of Brown Girl Woke. What is it like to be a community organizer?

Being a community organizing means wearing 1,000 simultaneous hats. For me, it has been a 15+ year grassroots journey. In 2012, after seeing the many issues that our community faces around gender issues, I decided to make my own organization.

When I first started, Brown Girl Woke was more of a clothing line. Since gender equity topics can be difficult to navigate and discuss openly, I thought that it could be easier for people to join an empowering brand that speaks on their behalf.

Eventually, Brown Girl Woke grew to address other needs, like health topics and immigration workshops. If our community is living in the United States, it is critical for our people to be legal, accountable and represented in the Census.

What are some of the highlights and difficulties of community organizing?

Being here in Samoa, the highlights are working with my students and seeing their personal growth journeys. When I first got here, they didn’t know about their basic human rights. Two years later, they are informed and knowledgeable about what is going on in their government.

One of the biggest difficulties is seeing that there is always more work to be done. A lot of my job is centered around empowering young students to learn about gender equity, but if their basic needs aren’t being met (food, safety at home, shelter, etc.), how can we productively address those issues? There are some basic needs that remain to be addressed. 

Any advice for people interested in community organizing in the nonprofit industry?

While we need more people to do this work, more than anything, we need the right people to do this work. Community organizing is hard, which is why I do not promote this work to everyone. It takes someone emotionally strong and resilient to enter this career field. Like a pastor who gives their whole life to God, community organizers often feel that same sort of dedication to their nonprofit’s cause.

If you’re passionate about this work, keep doing it 100%. You might not see the impact of your community work right away, but with consistency, resilience, and the right team, the impact of your hard work will come through.

Choose your team and support system wisely. Not everyone is there for you, and that’s okay. I’ve been burned by surprising people, which is why I have a very tight group of folks that I work with now. My advice is to strive to see the best in everyone.

I will always make time to speak with people interested in entering this field, so if you have questions about becoming a community organizer, reach me at Brown Girl Woke.