“Because for us in the Pacific, resilience is not a trend,” said Sabrina Suluai-Mahuka, Ph.D., founder and executive director of Finafinau, one of two educators at the forefront of Pacific scholarship and advocacy who served as featured speakers, framing the emotional and political weight of island resilience in the face of ongoing environmental and social challenges.
Suluai-Mahuka, a 2021 Teacher of the Year awardee for American Samoa and Kenneth Gofigan Kuper, Ph.D., associate professor of Political Science, CHamoru Studies, and Micronesian Studies at the UOG, served as featured speakers on Thursday at the 17th University of Guam Conference on Island Sustainability
Drawing from her experiences as an educator, mother, and advocate, she emphasized how deeply personal her connection to sustainability work has become. Reflecting on her daughter’s relationship with environmental storytelling and the ocean, she shared, “But somehow, the ocean became her safe space.” Her remarks culminated in a powerful reframing of development discourse, declaring, “Prosperity is not extraction.”
Suluai-Mahuka used her platform to challenge conventional definitions of progress, warning against systems that prioritize economic growth at the expense of culture, consent, and ecological integrity. Her message stressed that sustainability must be rooted in protection, care, and intergenerational responsibility.
Kuper’s presentation complemented these themes through a futures-focused lens, examining uncertainty, governance, and the moral responsibilities tied to decision-making in the present. He began with a stark reflection on global anxieties, stating, “Most of the time the future scares me. Sometimes the future distracts me far too much from the present.”
Throughout his talk, Kuper challenged audiences to reconsider power structures and agency in island contexts. “We must not be afraid of power,” he said, emphasizing the importance of institutions and decision-making authority remaining in the hands of island communities.
Despite addressing difficult global realities, including climate change and geopolitical inequities, he maintained a message grounded in hope and responsibility. “I am not subscribed to a pessimism about the world,” he said, reinforcing the importance of choosing optimism as an active practice rather than passive sentiment.
He closed with a reminder of what is at stake for the next generation, stating, “Our kids do not deserve despair.” His remarks called for intentional investment in futures thinking, education, and systems that empower rather than exclude island communities from shaping their own destinies.