Malia is an Oakland-based writer who was born and raised in Athens, Georgia. She holds an M.A. in Visual and Critical Studies from California College of the Arts and a B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology from Lewis and Clark College. Malia’s commitment to a career in the arts developed during her interim years between undergraduate and graduate school, when she held an Americorps VISTA position as a curator and arts advocate at the Daybreak Star Native American Cultural Center in Seattle, WA. While living in Seattle, she would often sneak into art history lectures on the local university and community college campuses, and was a regular attendee of the public programs at the Seattle Art Museum. Because of the autodidactic nature of her foundational visual culture knowledge, Malia remains devoted to supporting public programming at local cultural institutions. She feels particularly privileged to hold her position at SFMOMA, which is so synchronized with her personal passion for culture-based continuing education opportunities.