Orion Tiatia will represent Samoa at the Young Pacific Leaders conference in Hawaii from 18-21 July.
Launched in 2013, the Young Pacific Leaders (YPL) program is the U.S. government’s signature program to strengthen leadership development and networking in the Pacific. Through a variety of programs and engagements including U.S. educational and cultural exchanges, regional exchanges, and seed funding, YPL seeks to build the leadership capabilities of youth in the region and strengthen ties between the United States and the Pacific.
The YPL focuses on critical topics identified by youth in the region: education, environment and resource management, civic leadership, and economic and social development.
The U.S. Department of State, in partnership with Cultural Vistas, is pleased to share that 36 Delegates and 6 Alumni Mentors were selected to attend the 2022 Young Pacific Leaders Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, over the dates July 18-21, 2022.
The leaders were selected from a competitive application process open to applicants ages 25-35 from Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Islands of French Polynesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, and the American-affiliated Pacific including American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Hawaii.
This year marks the eighth year of the YPL Annual Conference which brings together young leaders with the theme is Pacific Engagement 2.0: Carving New Paths for Regional Cooperation.
Through the conference, participants will develop new connections, advance leadership and advocacy skills, and provide participants opportunities to work together to solve regional and global challenges through community service and small grants projects.
“Young Pacific Leaders builds strong networks and exposes you to regional issues. You don’t have to be a certain age to take responsibility.” -Eugene Amor, Minister of Finance, Federated States of Micronesia, Young Pacific Leaders Alumni 2013.
“Now more than ever, we need regional cooperation in our Pacific on the climate crisis, our ocean, security, and more. I have absolute faith that it is our young Pacific leaders who drive this cooperation,” says U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, and Samoa, Thomas Udall.
