Tonga Victoria Afuha'amango
Why I Am Running for the Board of Directors
I am running for the Board of Directors to strengthen how international strategy translates into meaningful implementation at the local level.
The Sister Cities International 7 for 70 initiative reinforced for me that the future of this network is not just in forming relationships, but in activating them. As global priorities evolve, cities need infrastructure, partnerships, and coordination to turn connection into real outcomes.
Through the East Palo Alto Sister City partnership, I have convened more than 15 partners, including technology companies, universities, healthcare institutions, and community-based organizations, to demonstrate what this looks like in practice. When global engagement is grounded locally, it strengthens workforce pathways, expands access to resources, and deepens community impact.
I also seek to support stronger activation across the Pacific region. There are eight Sister City relationships connecting U.S. cities and Pacific Island nations—seven based in California—presenting a unique opportunity for coordinated regional leadership.
We are entering a new era of people-to-people diplomacy rooted in community and cross-sector action. Grassroots global is a scalable model.
I am committed to advancing Sister Cities International as a platform that equips cities to build, sustain, and measure impact.
Bio
Tonga Victoria is the founder of the Global Engagement Fund, an emerging platform that advances a grassroots global model: centering community-owned priorities and translating them into local implementation and global partnerships. Her work sits at the intersection of government, community, and global partnerships, focused on building systems for long-term, people-centered engagement.
With over 10 years of experience as a grassroots organizer, Tonga VIctoria has led coalition-based initiatives across youth development, public health, and community capacity building. In 2022, she led To Tonga With Love, a California-based humanitarian response to the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai eruption, alongside California Senator Josh Becker’s office, the UPS Foundation, Sobrato Philanthropies, and over 350 community organizations and donors, mobilizing $1.6 million in direct support to families and villages across the Kingdom of Tonga.
Over the past five years, she has expanded into global engagement, designing partnerships that connect local communities to global pathways.
Under her directive, the Global Engagement Fund partnered with the City of East Palo Alto to design and deliver Global Engagement Week, hosting a delegation from the Kingdom of Tonga led by Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Sinaitakala Tukuʻaho and advancing the first Sister City partnership with Kolofoʻou, Tonga—the fourth city counted under the 7 for 70 Sister Cities Initiative.
Tonga Victoria is also the author of Hyphen American (2020), reflecting her approach to storytelling as cultural diplomacy and narrative power. She is a mother of two and a wife, living in East Palo Alto, and remains committed to community-rooted global impact.
Skills
I bring strengths in systems design, cross-sector partnership development, and community-centered implementation. I have experience convening government, corporate, and community stakeholders to operationalize international engagement at the local level. My work includes fund development, program execution, and building scalable models that connect global strategy to measurable outcomes. I contribute a Pacific-focused perspective and a commitment to strengthening Sister Cities as a platform for sustained, impact-driven partnerships.