Vileti ‘Akolo (she/they) LMSW is a first-generation Tongan trauma-informed clinician, circle practitioner, consultant and facilitator. Vileti is skilled at integrating psychotherapy with social and transformative justice praxis. She dedicates her personal and professional work to upending oppressive systems and centering the lives of Black, Indigenous, people of color relegated to living on society’s margins. Vileti is deeply committed to creating and holding intentional space and expanding capacities for profound, collective healing.
The bedrock of Vileti’s overall approach to clinical and communal work is informed by Critical Race and Black Feminist theories and embodied through an anti-oppressive, intersectional lens. For over a decade, she has developed curriculum, training and provided workshop facilitation for a multitude of clients and organizations on topics including social-racial-transformative justice pedagogy, youth development, professional development, trauma-informed care, mental health awareness, community care & community healing. Vileti’s consultant work is holistic and rooted in collaborative and liberatory praxis where ultimately, the hope is deeper awareness and radical change. Vileti prioritizes research and attending training on cutting edge topics in order to stay abreast of the latest innovative approaches to healing.
Vileti currently provides supervision to an intergenerational, multi-ethnic team at the Community Navigator Program (CNP) that provides mobile case management support and linkages to social service providers to struggling New Yorkers across the city. Vileti partnered with and consulted for many organizations including: College of Staten Island School of Social Work (CSISSW), Nyack College, The Arthur Project, Community Connections for Youth (CC-FY), The Credible Messenger Institute (CMI), The Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (QDEP). She has presented at Network Days, a conference hosted by The Sanctuary Institute. Vileti received her Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and her Master’s Degree in Social Work (MSW) from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College in New York City.