Sefa is the Associate Dean and Director of the Draper Center for Community Partnerships at Pomona College. Professionally, he has served as an academic and student-organizational advisor, as well as an instructor for Asian American Studies programs at UCLA and California State University, Fullerton. Sefa has taught courses in contemporary Pacific Islander issues, community engagement, and has done countless workshops and talks at colleges and universities throughout the country.

In the community, Sefa is a founding member and current Board Chair of EPIC (Empowering Pacific Islander Communities) and has been active on the advisory boards of the PIHCP (Pacific Islander Health Careers PIPELINE) Project, NHPI (Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander) Alliance for Health, Pacific Islander Cancer Control Network (PICCN) Samoan Community Advisory Board, and The AIGA (All Islands Getting Along) Foundation. Sefa is also a founding member of NPIEN (National Pacific Islander Educators Network) and the UCLA PIER Project. During the pandemic, Sefa has organized with other Pacific Islander leaders in the Inland Empire to address the disproportionate impact that COVID 19 has had on the Pacific Islander community. Together, they formed PIECE (Pasefika Inland Empire Coalition for Empowerment).

 In September of 2010, Sefa was appointed by President Obama to the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Sefa served as the Vice-Chair of the Commission from 2010 - 2014. He has also been a Reader for the APIASF (Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund), and AIGCS (American Indian Graduate Center Scholars) Gates Millennium Scholarship and has recently joined the Board of APIA Scholars as well as APAHE (Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education). Through his work on college campuses and in the larger community, Sefa has demonstrated his commitment to increasing the support and opportunities for non-traditional, marginalized, first generation students.

 Sefa is a native of San Diego and married his high school sweetheart, Belinda Aina; and together they have 3-children, Marina (Pomona College ’23; UCLA ‘25), Marcus (UC Berkeley ’25) and Malie (USC ‘26).