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Founded in 2016, Legacies of the Pacific has been dedicated to giving our communities Pacific Heritage Cultural performances.

Nina D. has been a professional performer for over 35 years traveling the world through dance. She has taught dance for over 30 years throughout the Bay area, including SF Parks and Rec at Crocker Amazon Park, Walnut Creek Parks and Rec at Heather Farms, Vallejo Parks and Rec at Norman King Center, Berkeley Youth Alternatives and America Canyon Parks and Rec, volunteering her time to teach with Spirit of Polynesia and Dances of the Pacific. Nina D. has held roles as Ticket Chairperson in other Nonprofits and conceptualized large scale events as the Back of the House Production Manager for MKH Productions. She competed in Merrie Monarch under the direction of Kumu Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu with the Academy of Hawaiian Arts. She continued helping Nonprofit’s productions with video and stage lighting design as a consultant. She currently serves on the SF API Celebration committee and supports other SF API festivals through her Non-profit. Her vision is to give back to the community that raised her, through performing arts. Nina’s passion is, “I want to be able to give the future generation the opportunity to see the world through performance as I did and teach them to give back to those that raise you through your talents.”

Tim Leong holds the Vice President Chair position for Legacies of the Pacific. He has over 25 years of experience in leading production implementations and project management. He has a proven track record in planning, design, vendor relations, and technical troubleshooting. Tim has worked technological music set ups doing sound engineering for over 20+ years and has helped produced multiple events and festivals throughout the Bay area such as Nihonmachi Street Fairs, Polk Street, North Beach, Chinatown, Aloha Festivals in San Mateo, Napa, and Sacramento, Dance and Sporting competitions, SF Parades like Pride, Chinatown's Lunar, and Carnival. He has worked with night clubs all over San Francisco like the Café in the Castro and the Lion’s Den in Chinatown. He has 12+ years as General Manager of Night clubs, running 4 clubs simultaneously; Origin, The Grand, Eve (Old Holy Cow), and The Rockwell, overseeing the operations and bringing in world renown artists and DJ's from all over the world. Tim’s input is valuable and serves on the planning committee for Cherry Blossom street fair, SF API Month Celebration and has produced many concerts for the Asian Pacific Islander community.

Pehnee Jackson is the Chief of Operations for Legacies of the Pacific and the founder/Director of Sonic Uke. Pehnee is a first generation, native San Franciscan. She has resided in San Francisco neighborhoods including the Sunset district attending Saint Mary’s School on Kearny, James Lick Middle School on Noe, Sharp Park in Pacifica, and San Francisco State University (SFSU). At SFSU she was a Dance Ethnology major who became 

immersed in World music and dance. Since she was lucky enough to take classes at San Francisco Ballet she used her talent to audition and get involved with several dance companies including Likha, Pilipino Folk Ensemble as a founding dancer, and with Spirit of Polynesia touring throughout North America and the Pacific Rim as a Senior Dancer. Pehnee recently relocated to Southern California where palm trees are reminiscent of the islands and 2 out of 5 people own an ukulele. What started out as a rhetorical question, “Wouldn’t it be great if we started a ukulele band at lunch?” became the premise to her forming an ukulele ensemble in Burbank, CA, Sonic Uke. The creation of Sonic Uke, brought together the UKEnique and talented individuals who were willing to share their newly formed skills to perform for charity. An ensemble of about 20, they participate in fundraising events and community outreach, the foundation of Sonic Uke’s mission.

Activities have reached as far north as the Bay Area and as far south as San Diego advancing the Sonic Uke Movement ~ One Uke at a Time. 

Kiana Zamora is San Francisco native born from the Outer Sunset District. Kiana Zamora is a board member for Legacies of the Pacific holding role as, Marketing Manager. She is an alumni from Abraham Lincoln HS and SFSU, with a B.A. in Speech Communication. 

She passionately holds 35 years of Polynesian dance experience and some unique experiential lifetime opportunities traveled as a young dancer. She gives credit and thanks to the free community Polynesian dance class originally offered at Crocker Amazon Park, Spirit of Polynesia, through SF Parks and Recreation back in the early 90s which kept her out of trouble as a young adolescent. Kiana is a great networker who creates, maintains, and nurtures her public relationships with nearly everyone she meets with her enthusiasm and charismatic personality. She believes in community programs and the positive impact it can have on an individual, as it once did when she was an adolescent. For this reason, she chooses to support Legacies of the Pacific mission of community coalition, sharing resources, and perpetuation of cultural arts of the Pacific. Her integrity is demonstrated in her 5 years of construction project management professional experience which makes her a great constituent in any team focused on a common goal. She has volunteered for SF Rebuilding Together participating the national program “She Builds”, celebrating Women in Construction in 2018 as Project Volunteer and 2019 as Project Lead. Kiana is also an artist at heart, showing off her artistic talents through her jewelry she hand makes and designs.

Nina Tolentino is a board member for Legacies of the Pacific as the Treasurer. Nina T. resides in American Canyon and is a Bay area native. She currently works for the State of California as a Fiscal manager and H&R Block. She has over 30+ years in Banking and Accounting with 15+ years in tax analysis. She holds an MBA in Operations Management from American Intercontinental University. Nina T. dances praise Hula and her daughter and son-in-law, who is a native Hawaiian, run their own Halau in the state of Utah.  At Legacies of the Pacific, we envision a world where creativity thrives through the performing arts. We strive to empower individuals to find their voice and express their unique talents. 

Emily Infante  Auayang has over 23 years of professional experience in quality assurance.      She works in a nonprofit organization dedicated to healing youth through the arts of hula, chant, and the teaching of Hawaiian culture, values, and      traditions. As a dancer, drummer/musician, and volunteer, she actively participates in preserving and promoting Polynesian performing arts.

 Legacies of the Pacific aims to inspire creativity through performing arts education. Our mission is to nurture talent and passion in students of all ages.