WHAT WE DO

Advocacy

Our primary purpose is to advocate for the rights of the people of three Pacific Island nations that have a unique treaty with the United States, called the Compact of Free Association (COFA): The Republic of Palau, The Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia. You can read more about the history of these nations and COFA residents in Texas here.

While individuals from these three countries reside across the United States, we are focused on social and economic justice under the law for COFA residents in Texas. Our advocacy efforts include but are not limited to:

• Assistance obtaining driver licenses

• Medical and insurance coverage support

• Mutual aid

• Communicating needs to state and national legislators

We are part of a wider network of peer organizations that represent communities in different states including Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and more. We are connected as chapters of CANN National.

Preservation

As Board Member Sepir Yakana once said, he grew up on a tiny island he could throw a stone across, but his two children who grew up in Copperas Cove, Texas were “taken out of the little island and put in a big country, where they can get lost.”

Celebrating the role of our traditions in our contemporary lives and preserving these cultural practices for the future are an important part of COFA Alliance National of Texas’ work. The preservation of our cultural ways includes but is not limited to:

• Dance

• Foodways & Recipes

• Language

• Memorial Celebrations of those Lost at War

Through relationship building, public events, media projects, and collaborations with organizations like Texas Folklife, we are able to shed a brighter light on the traditions of our ancestors and our families today. We believe these efforts help us to better understand our individual and collective identities, and inform our future.

Education

We are committed to ensuring that all COFA residents in Texas - and elsewhere - are well informed regarding our history and our cultures, and well supported to reach their full potential.

Beyond engaging, informing, and empowering COFA residents themselves, we are dedicated to educating other Texans and the wider public about the the history of our people, COFA, and the traditions we celebrate as well as the barriers we face today, such as hurdles to obtaining driver’s licenses and ID cards, access to medical insurance for treatment of diseases caused by radioactive fallout, and more. Our education takes the form of:

• Legislative Briefings

• Meetings with Senators and Representatives

• Collaborations with other nonprofits, Veterans Affairs, Americans for the Arts

We are confident that through effective education will come beneficial change. Find resources to learn more here, and if you’re interested in a collaboration, please do not hesitate to contact us. If you believe in our work, please consider supporting it through a donation.