Filipinos have been in the United States since the 16th century, yet many of their stories remain untold. For the past year, Positively Filipino has been running a series on notable Filipino Americans who have made their marks in this country. There are hundreds, or maybe even thousands more, that need to be added to this story, and we need your help. If you know of a Filipino American who deserves to be included in this line-up, please send us their names and any supporting documents you may have to pfpublisher@yahoo.com. For now, we are including only those who are currently active and visible in the media and the community, regardless of their religious, sexual or political orientation. Thank you.

Josh Jacobs, Football Player

Josh Jacobs is an American football running back for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama and was drafted by the Raiders in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He is of Filipino descent through his paternal grandmother from Angeles City, Philippines and has a portrait of her tattooed on his left hand. In middle school, Jacobs was homeless; he was featured in a Kia commercial reflecting on his homeless experience. As a college sophomore in 2017, he had 284 yards on 46 carries with one touchdown. After the season, it was revealed that he had been playing on a broken ankle for most of it. As a junior, he was named the MVP of the 2018 SEC Championship Game against Georgia Bulldogs after rushing for 83 yards with two touchdowns. In the 2022 season, Jacobs was given the NFL’s first Jim Brown award at the NFL Honors with 340 attempts, 1,653 yards and 12 touchdowns. In 2023, the Raiders placed the franchise tag on Jacobs. His younger brother, Isaiah Jacobs, is a running back for the Maryland Terrapins.

Ria Paz Montes, Chef de Cuisine, Estuary

Montes worked for years at some of D.C.’s top restaurants including Blue Duck Tavern before taking over the reins as chef de cuisine at Estuary, following a massive restaurant revamp in 2022. Today, she’s known as one of the leading female chefs in the DMV area and works to support sustainability efforts and local producers (as well as other women in the food and beverage industry). Montes grew up in a large Filipino family, which largely informed her cooking style. “Because we were immigrants, our family meals were moments for us to hold onto our culture. It is a way to stay connected to not only my culture, but also my parents and grandparents,” she says. “It is ingrained in everything I do, but especially in my food.” At Estuary, this ethos translates to Filipina twists on more familiar Chesapeake dishes, including ceviche with calamansi granita or roasted oysters with garlic chile crumbs. She founded the Miss-en-Place, a quarterly dinner series hosted at Estuary to highlight women in the culinary industry while giving back to local charities that support women.

Nancy Bulalacao, Editor and Director

Nancy Bulalacao (Source: Museum of Chiense in America)

Bulalacao has been creating signature public programs for the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander community for 30 years. She has led public programs for institutions that include Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Asia Society, and Museum of Chinese in America. She was the founder of Poets Theater in the ‘90s and in 2013 the nomadic Filipino American Museum (FAM) in New York City that features programming related to Filipino American arts, music and culture. In 2021 she coordinated a coalition around a series of panels, titled Quiet Before, examining anti-Asian violence. She currently advises institutions on outreach and audience development. She heads Bulalacao Consulting, which provides a spectrum of services including curation, original public program creation, coalition building, audience development and strategic outreach. “Our approach is holistic and determined by an institution’s dreams for engaging community,” she says.

Paulo G. Pontemayor, Catholic Health Director

Paulo G. Pontemayor (Source: National Minority Quality Forum)

Pontemayor currently serves as Director of Government Relations for the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA), the national leadership organization of more than 2,200 Catholic health care systems, hospitals, long-term care facilities, sponsors, and related organizations—the largest group of nonprofit health care providers in the nation. He also serves as Second Co-chair for the Partnership for Medicaid, made up of organizations representing clinicians, health care providers, safety-net health plans and counties whose goal is to preserve and improve the Medicaid program. Prior to CHA, he worked at The Joint Commission, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, and the U.S. House of Representatives. Pontemayor received his Master of Public Health degree from the Milken Institute of Public Health at the George Washington University and his undergraduate degree from the University of Washington. He is currently working on an Executive Certificate in Healthcare Leadership and Patient Safety at Georgetown University. Most recently, he was named a Top Lobbyist by the National Institute for Lobbying and Ethics and remains active in mentorship to help diversify the profession. Originally from the U.S. territory of Guam, Pontemayor continues to draw strength from his Filipino immigrant family, starting with his grandfather who came as a contract laborer after World War II to help rebuild the war-torn island, as an inspiration for his policy work.

Kristelle Siarza, Public Relations Specialist

Kristelle Siarza (Source: Digital Startup Info)

Siarza is a business executive, non-profit founder and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in digital communications and leadership. In 2014, she founded Siarza – a 360-degree digital, public relations and advertising firm that pivots on innovation, curation and creativity. Her team has helped clients generate millions of impressions, and their award-winning campaigns have received local and national recognition. As a proud Filipina, she founded the Asian Business Collaborative to support Asian business owners in New Mexico and Texas. Siarza believes in giving back to the community with time and effort. She currently serves on the board of New Mexico Foundation for Open Government and the Domestic Violence Resource Center. She was honored as one of NM’s ‘Forty Under 40’ and received the “Women of Influence” award. In 2023, Siarza became one of the newest members of The Change Agencies, the first and only national network of independently-owned public relations firms focused on inclusive and authentic communications to multicultural and LGBTQ communities.

Gene Irisari, Technology Lobbyist

Irisari is Head of Semiconductor Policy for Samsung Electronics America, a U.S. subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co. headquartered in South Korea. Based in Washington, D.C., he is responsible for all policy work affecting Samsung’s computer chip business. He is also active in the Texas State Society, including serving as its President. Irisari has more than a decade of experience on Capitol Hill. He served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director for House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) for more than five years, helping start the Chairman’s office when he was a newly elected freshman. Irisari managed the Chairman’s D.C. office as well as his legislative team, where he was the Congressman’s lead staffer on technology policy as well as homeland security issues. Before that he was Legislative Counsel for senior House Ways and Means Committee member Kevin Brady (R-TX) and was responsible for energy, environmental, judiciary and transportation policy issues for the Congressman. Irisari graduated from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and European History and from West Virginia University College of Law. He lives in Virginia with his wife and three children.

Bernadette Sangalang, Packard Foundation Director

Bernadette Sangalang (Source: Packard Foundation)

Sangalang is the Child and Family Director at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. She leads grantmaking in Early Learning strategy, focusing on place-based systems change through the Starting Smart and Strong initiative, informal care and community-driven solutions. She also oversees evaluation and learning across the CFC program. Sangalang first joined the Packard Foundation in 2006 as evaluation officer and then later rejoined the Foundation in 2013 as program officer for CFC. Bernadette has worked over 25 years in support of children and families, in the areas of early childhood, child welfare, maternal and child health, and access to health and social services. In this regard she has held various positions, including conducting research at universities and research institutions, consulting with foundations and nonprofits on strategy and evaluation, and serving as evaluation director at a community-based health services organization. Sangalang received her Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received postdoctoral training in Public Health at University of California at Berkeley. She also holds an MSW from University of Washington and a BA in Social Welfare from University of California at Berkeley.

Leslie Damaso, Visual and Musical Artist

Leslie Damaso (Source: lesliedamasomusic.com)

Damaso is a singer, visual artist, poet, writer, teacher and business owner at Buttonhill Music Studio in the historic community in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. Her work has been focused on themes of Asian American citizenship, the effects of colonialism, the individual’s sense of belonging, identity, intergenerational trauma and community. She recently performed for the launch of a website through the University of Maryland aimed at teaching Asian American history in K-12 education called “Filipino American Lives in DC, Maryland and Virginia.” In 2020, her video “Bayan Ko” with Madison-based band, Mr. Chair, had its world premiere through FilAm Arts LA’s Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture. Her album, May Laya, a collection of kundiman art songs of the Philippines, recorded with Jason Kutz, received the 2019 Best World Album award from the Madison Area Music Association. Her poetry, essays and photographs have been featured in numerous publications. Other upcoming projects include her third album, a children’s book featuring a contemporary myth, a collection of poetry exploring her connection and disconnection in the states along with the indelible experiences from her childhood in the Philippines. Her music will be an accompaniment to a documentary called “Norte” by Cocoy Ventura, showcasing traditions in Luzon, the island where Leslie was born. She will also be part of a lesson on “Cultural Preservation and Adaptation” for Smithsonian Folkways. Damaso is having a West Coast premiere tour of Sirena, an original story conceived by her, set within new compositions and contemporary arrangements of kundiman songs of love and freedom. “Sirena blends a personal story, family secrets, a mythic love triangle ending in the beginning of a nation, the displacement of its people, and an individual’s search for identity and belonging. This is an act of weaving together pieces to heal what’s beneath our scars; it is a journey back to the sweetness of life.”

Christine Ledesma, Chef of Kubo

Christine Ledesma (Source: Chicago’s Best/youtube)

Kubo was launched in 2017 from the creative mind of Filipina chef Christine Ledesma. It was in the city of Bacolod on the northwest coast of Negros Island that Ledesma began her culinary journey, and she has since sought to bring the food of her home country to diners in Chicago. The restaurant’s name refers to a traditional Filipino abode, considered a symbol of togetherness in Filipino culture, and has undoubtedly brought together many diners since it opened in 2017 with a positive review from the Chicago Tribune: “And that is why I like the tocilog at Kubo ($11). It’s fundamentally different. There is no dye. Instead of pork belly, it features hunks of tender pork shoulder coated in a sticky molasses-like sauce that features burnt caramel notes from a pineapple, brown sugar, onion and garlic-infused glaze. The salty fried egg and the heady garlic perfume off the rice lull you into a sated trance.” Ledesma is a fixture in her community for sharing traditional Filipino recipes such as pork ribs adobo and lechon sisig, further evangelizing this style of cooking. “Eating is what I love most…Sharing my passion in cooking through our restaurant is an achievement and a fulfillment,” Ledesma said.

Aqui Soriano Versoza, Executive Director

Aqui Versoza is the founder and executive director of the Pilipino Worker’s Center, a resource and advocacy organization that empowers the Filipino community in Southern California to improve the quality of their lives. The Center works to protect domestic workers and caregivers from unpaid overtime, wage theft and human trafficking. Versoza has been working among Filipinos for 22 years, both in Los Angeles and in the Philippines. She took Asian American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. She also serves on the Board of Mission Asset Fund and as the current president of the Board of Directors of the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

Source: Google and Wikipedia

The Magazine

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 50