Anna Marie Blas Arceo, Administrator
Siñora Anna Marie Blas Arceo currently serves as the Kumisión i Fino’ CHamoru’s Administrator and is also the co-founder of Chief Huråo (Neni) Academy, the first CHamoru Language Immersion preschool. Having worked tirelessly towards her dream of seeing others speak the language, she is affectionately known to her students as Saina Guinifi, meaning “dream” in CHamoru. Siñora Arceo’s name is synonymous with CHamoru language revitalization as she has served in Guåhan’s higher learning institutions and GDOE as a Fino’ CHamoru educator, writer, and publisher. For over 30 years, she has collaborated with local businesses and organizations to build capacity in the language through teaching them how to use Fino’ CHamoru in their daily lives. Siñora Arceo’s journey with the Kumisión i Fino’ CHamoru has come full circle. In the 1990s, she served as its Executive Director before its dissolvement, and has returned to the Kumisión as its Administrator after her tenure as the President of the Department of CHamoru Affairs, Dipåttamention i Kaohao Guinahan CHamoru.
Elyssa J. Santos, Special Projects Coordinator
Siñora Elyssa J. Santos is a daughter of the Familian Clara and Hilario clans on her mother’s side and Familian Duket and Pajesjes clans on her father’s side. She works as a Special Projects Coordinator for the Kumisión, overseeing the Guam Place Names Commission and the CHamoru Archive. Aside from her work with the Kumisión, she teaches History of Guam courses at the University of Guam and authors the 1st Grade GDOE Social Studies textbook housed under UOG Press. Siñora Santos holds a B.A. in History and Chamorro Studies from the University of Guam and an M.A. in Pacific Islands Studies from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Her scholarly research interests center on CHamoru resistance from pre-war to early post-war Guam, particularly in the realms of colonial agricultural projects, sport, and traditional healing.