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Almost a decade ago, Folola and Matthew Malele attended a high school robotics competition in Daly City. It was their first exposure to the robotics world, and the pair was struck by the spirit in the room, an atmosphere featuring music and cheerleaders. They wondered if engineering was something that would interest their toddler in the future.
Folola Malele, a social worker, and Matthew Malele, a special education teacher in the Sequoia Union High School District, marveled at how cool the experience was, but they also felt somewhat out of place. They didn’t understand the competition’s points system and realized they didn’t often see Pacific Islanders in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.
“This (robotics) seems like something if our daughter in the future wanted to do it, we wouldn’t know where to start…guiding her,” Folola Malele said. The couple took their nephews to robotics championships annually and searched for STEM programs in the area, finding a lot of free ones that they figured people might just not know about.
That’s how in 2020, the South San Francisco couple founded Pacific Islanders Encouraging Fun, Engineering, Science and Technology — P.I.E.F.E.S.T. for short. It’s a nonprofit focused on improving Pacific Islander representation in STEM. South San Francisco itself is known as the epicenter of the biotechnology industry, home to companies like Genentech and Calico Life Sciences.
“We didn’t have formal STEM education, but basically we started P.I.E.F.E.S.T. because we just really wanted to create a space for parents like us to expose our kids to different career pathways,” said Matthew Malele.
The launch of the nonprofit coincided with Pi Day, an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π on March 14. Unfortunately, it was also the start of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
The Maleles pivoted from their initial plan of hosting monthly STEM programming and concluding with a STEM fair. Instead, they held monthly maker challenges through Instagram and Facebook, encouraging people to build projects with the supplies they had at home. They’d then hold raffles and mail winners STEM toys.
“Once we hit our year mark we knew we couldn’t do the STEM fair, so we fundraised within the family to create 100 STEM activity kits,” Folola Malele said. People were just beginning to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The world had not fully reopened.
They mailed out and dropped off kits at people’s homes that had straw connectors, water beads, mini robots, resource booklets with information about local STEM programming and more.
But in 2022, they were finally ready. They hosted their first Bay Area Pasifika STEAM Fair in Redwood City, an event that included booths with representatives from STEM programs and hands-on activities. Some 429 people showed up, more than their goal attendance number of 350.
During its first four years, the nonprofit offered its programming to grades K-5 and expanded to K-8 this year. The fair is expanding in 2025 to include high schoolers.
The fourth annual fair on April 12 is also moving to a bigger location, the San Mateo County Event Center, to accommodate more people. They aim to host about 1,200 people, but the room can hold up to 3,000. The fair is also expanding to include the arts this year.
Outside of the fair, their other offerings include bringing STEM activities to community events and hosting after-school programs and camps over school breaks. They’ve partnered with biotech companies and Life Science Cares to assemble and donate STEM kits to students.
The Maleles’ three children, ages 5, 6 and 11, also help pack STEM kits, participate in workshops and give their parents input on if they feel like an activity is exciting or not.
“Over the weekend we were putting together STEM kits; it’s something we enjoy doing as a family,” said Folola Malele. “They definitely are our why (for running P.I.E.F.E.S.T.).”
Other families are grateful for the nonprofit’s work. One parent of a participant in a P.I.E.F.E.S.T. robotics program said in a feedback form that “it’s a blessing to have great people helping and supporting the Polynesian community. Also building the young generation’s confidence not only in sports but out of their comfort zone.”
STEM in Indigenous culture
The couple pointed out that innovation was a key part of Indigenous Pacific Islanders’ lives. Pacific Islanders come from different cultural groups and nationalities from the Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia regions in the Pacific Ocean.
“Engineering and science in general were practiced through our cultures,” said Folola Malele.
To create ties to traditional Pacific Islander culture, the April 12 event will include dance performances, exhibits to learn about the engineering of Samoan fales, the art of Fijian masi making, the physics of Tahitian drums and more.
On starting a nonprofit
It’s been a lot of hard work to get the nonprofit to where it is today, and Folola Malele advises anyone planning to start a nonprofit to make sure they have the passion for it and that it aligns with their values.
“We zeroed in on a specific challenge we had as parents and shared those same feelings or thoughts with other parents,” she said. “We reached out to the greater community as a whole to become allies by creating this space, from the Pacific Islander lens. It (P.I.E.F.E.S.T.) is all open to all because that’s also important too.”
For more information on the nonprofit, go to wearepiefest.org. The Bay Area Pasifika STEAM Fair is on Saturday, April 12, from 1-5 p.m. at the San Mateo Event Center, 1346 Saratoga Drive, San Mateo. The event is free and open to all ages. Register at wearepiefest.org/events.
