Aubrey Yanger Mariano (she/her) is a mixed-race CHamoru woman from Guåhan, who now lives in Makiki on the Island of O‘ahu. This past summer, she graduated with a BA in Psychology and American (Empire) Studies at UH Mānoa. Still at UHM, she is now a first-year Master of Public Health student in Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Health. In June 2023, Aubrey’s passion for Indigenous health led her to volunteer at Aha Hoolokahi, the Native Hawaiian Health & Well-Being Summit, where we discovered her natural fit with our team. By July, she joined POL as an Administrative Assistant for Mauli Ola Mālamalama, POL’s workforce development hale.

Alongside her studies and POL work, Aubrey is a Graduate Research Assistant at Hawaii’s Caring Systems Initiative for Youth Suicide Prevention. Her long-term goal is to serve her CHamoru community by developing culturally responsive community mental health programs, centering (re)connection with land, water, and CHamoru identity. In her free time, Aubrey is also a multimedia artist in poetry, ceramics, and 35mm film photography. Her work has been featured in the Daughters of Micronesia Exhibition at the 2021 Celebrate Micronesia Festival and in the debut issue of Pasefika Presence Magazine. Along with serving the lāhui in Pacific solidarity, one of Aubrey’s favorite things about working with POL is getting to use her creative background at work.

See some of her film shots below!

Loko Ea

Hanalei Overlook

Latte Site at Jinapsan