meet vid raatior

Vid with his wife Desha and daughter Keala during a visit to his mentor Fr. Arthur Leger, SJ. at Xavier High School, Chuuk.

Vidalino Staley Raatior is a devoted husband and father, a member of the Pwaraka & Alengeitaw clans, an international educator, a former Jesuit, a citizen activist, a youth leader, a social entrepreneur with emphasis on helping the developing country of Micronesia,  and the President of the Outer Islands Partnership organization founded to support the educational, economic, and healthcare needs in the outer islands of Micronesia specifically the Pattiw, Namwonweito, and Pafeng regions.

Family Origin

Vid was born and raised in the outer islands of Pattiw and Namonweito in Chuuk State. He is proud of his roots in the Pwaraka clan which originated from Tamatam and the Alengeitaw clan with its bloodied history on Onoun in the Nomwonweito region. He is the son of Kintina Reang of Tamatam and the late Fidel Opich from the Alengeitaw clan of Onoun. His paternal grandfather Raatior, whose baptismal name Yonas was changed to Jones by an American Peace Corp in the 60′s, was a highly respected traditional chief and master navigator on Onoun. While his brothers and sisters still carried the last name Jones,  Vid officially reclaimed his traditional family name in the 90′s to symbolize his disapproval of the cultural insensitivity of that American teacher and to memorialize his highly respected grandfather. His family moved to Houk Island where they now live. He is blessed with a large family including his siblings  Maggie Smith, Damian Jones, Quentin Jones, Sophia Esu, Timothy Jones, Georgina Robert, Myrinda Weito, Edwin Weito and lots of nieces and nephews.

Vid is happily married to Desha Staley-Raatior and they live in Santa Cruz, California with their 4-year old daughter Keala Naihangiluk and newborn son Keoni Rahutow.

Service of Others

Vid’s decision to enter public service had been building for over ten years in the Society of Jesus learning the Jesuit motto of being a “man for others.”  He had been a Jesuit scholastic for 10 years, Vid came to the prayer realization that the ordained ministry was not his true calling. His Jesuit training enabled him to prayerfully discern God’s true call for him which is to be of service to others without necessarily sacrificing having a family. After ten years of Jesuit formation, Vid finally decided to leave the life of a Jesuit scholastic to pursue his true vocation. A year later while in graduate school at the University of San Francisco he met his now wife Desha Staley from Santa Cruz, CA. where they live with their 4-year old daughter Keala Naihangiluk and newborn son Keoni Rahutow.

Educational Background

Vid is a product of the Chuuk State public education system from elementary to high school. He graduated top of his class at Houk Elementary School, attended Wei-Pat Junior High School where he  was consistently in the top five of his class, was admitted into and graduated as a member of the Gifted & Talented program at Truk High School (now Chuuk High School). He went on to graduate from University of Guam (UOG) with  a bachelor’s degree in media communications. While at UOG, Vid was elected as the Vice President of the FSM Student Association and President of the Refanu Student Association for outer island Chuukese and Yapese students. As a communications major, Vid was appointed the Associate Editor of Triton’s Call, the school’s newspaper.  After graduating from UOG with a bachelor’s degree in media communications, Vid entered the Manresa Jesuit Novitiate, a seminary training in Palau where he studied the spirituality and constitutions of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). After completing the 2-year training, Vid pronounced vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience and began the next eight years of a Jesuit scholastic training program. He completed graduate studies in philosophy at Fordham University in New York and theology at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley in California. After leaving the Jesuits, Vid went on to complete a masters degree in school administration from the University of San Francisco.

Work Experience

Vid has valuable work experiences in Micronesia and the United States. He is currently the Assistant Director for International Programs at Santa Clara University where he has held a number of important leadership appointments to work collaboratively with faculty, the school’s administration, and other departments. Previously, Vid served as Associate Director for the Center for Multicultural Learning at Santa Clara and was the Onsite Program Coordinator for the Youth Together Project at the Arts, Research and Curriculum, Inc., in Oakland, CA. specifically to train youth activists in the Oakland Public School System.

In Micronesia, Vid has been actively involved in educational initiatives in both the public and private school schools. Vid served as a classroom teacher, Director of Campus Ministry, and Assistant Director at Xavier High School in Chuuk. While there he also served as Chairman of the statewide Interscholastic Sports Council in Chuuk to coordinate athletic competitions among the public and private high schools in Chuuk. He served on the statewide planning committee for the Student Take Over Chuuk (STOCA) Day which enabled student leaders to take over roles in the government and private sectors for a day to encourage civic engagement.  He also served on the statewide planning committee for the Close Up Foundation to enable high school students to travel to Washington DC and New York City for a civic learning program.

Vid’s work experience has also included Guam where he worked as Associate Director of the Campus Ministry Center serving the Micronesian students at the University of Guam and Guam Community College. His work with the Micronesian immigrants in Guam included a year serving as a community organizer in the capacity of Cultural Education Specialist for the Compact Impact Office out of the Governor’s Office in Guam.

For a complete list of Vid’s educational and professional background, check out his Curriculum Vitae.

Collaborative Leadership

Vid has always excelled in a partnership model of leadership. He founded Atawe Design a web design venture to empower non-profit organizations and social change movements in my home country of Micronesia. His journalism training coupled with his Jesuit formation in social justice led to his starting the Chuuk Reform Movement to build coalition with other Chuukese citizen-activists globally and locally who advocate for change in the political system back in Chuuk, Micronesia. Moreover, Vid serves as the President and co-founder of the Outer Islands Partnership, Inc., a non-profit organization based in California aimed at building global and local partnerships to empower children and women in the outer islands of Micronesia. He is also the founder and lead organizer for the Santa Cruz WordPress Meetup, a 100-member association of web designers, programmers, and developers in Santa Cruz County who use the open source software called WordPress to empower their clients.