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NAYA Action Fund is thrilled to welcome Lai-Lani Ovalles back to the NAYA family, this time as our Policy and Coalitions Strategist.
Lai-Lani was born and raised in Hawai'i, primarily on the islands of Kaua'i and O'ahu. As the hiapo, or first born, of her family, she spent her first five years on the north shore of Kaua'i, raised by her maternal grandparents and paternal grandmother and immersed in the cultural traditions of her Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) and Filipino kupuna. Those early years grounded her in aloha aina, reciprocity, and Indigenous knowledge, values she has carried through every chapter of her career since.
Lai-Lani brings years of experience engaging and empowering diverse communities for social change through cross-cultural collective action. Her background spans nonprofit and philanthropic leadership, including addressing racial equity and achievement gaps at Mt. Hood Community College and at the state level with Washington's Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. She previously worked with Portland's Native community through NAYA Family Center from 2008 to 2013, and as Early Learning Multnomah's Senior Manager, she helped center parent voice in community policymaking and supported the successful ballot measure establishing tuition free preschool in Multnomah County.
She has served on the Portland Planning Commission and on the boards of the Oregon Native American Chamber, and currently serves on the board of the Community Foundation of SW Washington.
We're glad to have her back, and we can't wait for you to see what she brings to this work.
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