Melody Ybona Gawliu is a Filipino-Chinese American and Daly City, California native. She was born on January 27, 1984 and is the daughter of Henson Gawliu Sr. and sister of Henson Gawliu Jr.

Gawliu works at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (HDFCCC) in clinical research for cancer and on 6/27/2023, she was promoted to supervisor of the Data & Safety Auditors. She had joined the Data & Safety Monitoring Committee (DSMC) as a monitor on 12/23/2019 – right before the pandemic hit. In addition to her job as a supervisor, Melody Gawliu also volunteers her time as part of the UCSF Staff Engagement Team a.k.a. “Fun Team”, is a Gallup Survey Ambassador, Wellness Champion, and since 2014 has been the organizer of the UCSF Bay Area Breast Cancer Forum that is hosted by Dr. Hope Rugo.

Melody Gawliu has many gifts from God that she uses to give back to Daly City and the greater San Francisco Bay Area community and her church community; she strives to make a positive impact on all those around her and ensuring there are safe, encouraging, nurturing spaces for people to find community.

Melody Gawliu was previously an integral member of First United Presbyterian Church (FUPC) of San Francisco. She served as youth director and helped direct the English service. Some of her roles included leading worship music, bible studies, fellowships, event planning, outreach, in-reach, etc. Gawliu currently attends Sunset Church in San Francisco, CA. Gawliu serves as a small group leader for the “Mi Familia” small group. She also serves in a few other ways such as being on the worship music team and is the ministry leader for the Connections Ministry and for the Welcome Ministry. For the Connections Ministry, Melody Gawliu plans events such as the “Sunset Socials” and Shared Tables, which gives the community a space to meet together to connect over a meal. She previously served as the Social Media manager.

Melody Gawliu is very active on social media:
http://linkedin.com/in/melodyybonagawliu
http://instagram.com/melodygawliu
http://facebook.com/melodygawliu
http://twitter.com/melodyybongawliu

In the past, Gawliu has teamed up with Daly City’s local legend DJ Keith O and former Daly City Mayor and current San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa to bring events to the community such as the Asian American Cultural Festival in partnership with her organization known as Over the Fog. In 2023, the festival returned with a new name – the “AAPI Fest” which celebrates Asian American & Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and friends of our community. The sixth AAPI Fest took place in 2024!

In 2020, Melody Gawliu celebrated the TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY of an event she created called FNKO, which is a series of coffee-house style performances. Due to the pandemic, Gawliu used her creativity in order to bring FNKO into a space for vitual performances. In 2024, Melody Gawliu celebrated her 40th birthday AND 40th installment of FNKO with fun performances, food, and of course friends and family!

Gawliu loves creating spaces for people to have outlets, connect, and be in a positive encouraging environment.

Melody Gawliu has an eclectic list of passions and talents and would love to share them with you! Some of Gawliu’s other endeavors include : Photography (weddings, engagements, portraits, headshots, event coverage), photo booths, performing music, event planning (wedding planner/organizer/coordinator, birthday parties, community events), and using her creativity to make gifts and other customized items! Feel free and encouraged to connect with her!