Talk Story Tuesday with Matapuna Levenson

Matāpuna Ma’ilo-Levenson is a project manager for the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence. She is responsible for providing technical assistance and training on models and issues related to culturally relevant approaches to gender-based violence, as well as analyzing emerging issues and documenting best practices in serving Asian and Pacific Islander communities in the U.S. In addition to training and technical assistance, Matāpuna manages the Institute's ARP Support for Survivors Program which is a multi-year project that provides subgrants to culturally specific, community-based organizations that support survivors and their families.

Prior to the Institute, Matāpuna was the Training and Technical Assistance Director for the Hawaiʻi State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and the lead victim advocate and program coordinator for the Salt Lake Area Family Justice Center at YWCA Utah. She received her BSW from BYU-Hawaiʻi, MSW from the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, and is currently a PhD student at the University of Hawaiʻi Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health. 

Matapuna Levenson attended the Safety Net's Technology Summit 2023 in San Francisco, CA from July 17-18, 2023. 

This unique 3-day training summit focuses on the intersection of technology and domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and trafficking. Covering a wide range of technology-related issues, this conference will be helpful to advocates, legal professionals, technologists, and law professionals who work with survivors of abuse.