Seventeen teen entrepreneurs will pitch or launch their businesses at the Nesian Night Market on Friday, July 31, nine months after Samoan Solutions lost its Burlingame community center to funding constraints.
The free market begins at 5 p.m. at Belle Air Elementary School, 450 Third Ave. in San Bruno. It features food, merchandise, and resource vendors from across the Polynesian, Melanesian, and Micronesian communities.
The youth vendors are graduates of Pasefika Boss Up, a five-week summer program for students in seventh through 12th grade. Samoan Solutions President Epi Aumavae told the San Mateo Daily Journal the program grew out of conversations with adult vendors who wished they had learned business basics earlier.
"It teaches them, our youth, the entry level skills of how to be able to start their own business, what's required of them," Aumavae said. "They're expected to either work to launching their business or pitching their business live at Nesian Night Market."
Aumavae co-founded the volunteer-run 501(c)(3) in 2008 alongside Dallas Teo, Mona Uli, and Fagasavali Misa. The group originally formed to host a Samoan arts and cultural festival in San Mateo County and grew into a hub for Pacific Islander services.
Burlingame roots
Until October 2025, Samoan Solutions operated Le Maota, a community space at 833 Mahler Road in Burlingame. The facility housed a co-working area for Pasefika businesses, a Pacific Islander library, and a multipurpose flex space. It also displayed the Measina Samoa exhibit, donated by the Geer family of Burlingame.
Aumavae said the Mahler Road space became a strategy for outreach, connecting Pacific Islander residents with services and giving the organization a home base to launch the night market. The nonprofit is still seeking sustainable funding for a permanent replacement.
Drawing a crowd
The June market drew 316 attendees. It was the first Nesian Night Market held at Belle Air Elementary.
Alicia Tialavea, 18, a Pasefika Boss Up alumna and now an event coordinator for Samoan Solutions, said the market has helped people launch businesses while raising money for the organization's Ta'iala Youth Exchange, which sends Bay Area students on a two-week cultural immersion trip to Samoa.
Friday's market will also include a climate carnival with environmental education games, an e-bike showcase, and community resource tables from groups including Empowering Pacific Islander Communities, the San Bruno Recreation Aquatics Center, and RISE So City.
Upcoming community events
- Friday, July 31: Nesian Night Market, Belle Air Elementary, 450 Third Ave., San Bruno. Free. Begins at 5 p.m. Details at samoansolutions.org.
- August (date TBA): Next monthly Nesian Night Market at Belle Air Elementary.
- December (date TBA): Holiday Nesian Night Market.
Samoan Solutions' search for a new permanent community space continues.
