Paula (she/her) is a third-generation descendant of Filipino/Spanish and Japanese immigrant-settlers, was born in Chicago, Illinois. and raised in Molokaʽi and ʽOahu.  Her parents’ incarceration during WWII at Heart Mount Wyoming concentration camp for Japanese Americans, experiences as a woman of color, and work with Indigenous and minority communities formed the basis of a life-long commitment to social justice. Relationships with family and friends, meditation, art, growing food, cooking, and swimming are essential to her balance.  In 2016, Paula retired from the University of Hawaiʽi, Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work (1996-2016), where she served as PhD program chair, and became the Hawaiʽi program director at Consuelo Foundation (2016-2020).  Currently, she is an independent research consultant, contracted by the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaiʽi (RCUH) to work on the Overdose to Action (OD2A) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grant.