that serve the general public and underserved communities
along the Wasatch Front. His expertise in community
health issues is what he intends to bring when meeting
with the commission.
Another point of emphasis for Fitisemanu is the creation of
youth initiatives. He sees the impact young individuals have
when they are given opportunities to collectively organize.
“If there is something I personally would like to do to provide
sustainability it would be to increase youth engagement
and to really provide empowerment for youth,” he says.
“While I still respect and highly value the elders, I do
think there is still a lot more room for the young folks to
participate and for closer mentorship to take place.”
Fitisemanu understands his commitment to working with
his community isn’t a one-day project but rather a continuous
effort. His advocacy work is an extension of himself.
“If there is a legacy that I leave behind, I hope there will
be some kind of initiative or program that’s still running,
still successful, and still growing and expanding. I hope I
can tell my kids or my grandkids that it was just an idea in
my young mind years ago and I was able to work with
other people, collaborate, and have a positive outcome
for the community. If that’s something twenty years
from now that I can say for myself, then I think I’ll be
pretty proud of that.”
Jake Fitisemanu wears his formal Samoan lavalava.
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