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.

Joanne Ramos, Author

Ramos was born in the Philippines and moved to Wisconsin when she was six. She graduated with a B.A. from Princeton University. After working in investment banking and private-equity investing, she became a staff writer at the Economist. She currently serves on the board of The Moth and lives in New York City with her family. The Farm, her debut novel, a national bestseller, was chosen by over 50 international media outlets as a “must read” including O, The Oprah Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and New York Magazine. It was longlisted for the Center of Fiction's 2019 First Novel Prize. The novel is set in a fictional facility named Golden Oaks where women serve as surrogates for wealthy clients. “The characters were partly inspired by the many Filipina domestic workers she met who shared her ethnic background but lacked the opportunities she herself had.” The Farm was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author.

Rosemary Espina Palacios, Sesame Street Director

Rosemary Espina Palacios (source: Facebook)

Palacios is Sesame Street’s director of Talent Outreach, Inclusion and Content Development. She is “dedicated to developing talent and content that allows underrepresented audience members from every intersection of life to feel, seen, heard and celebrated” her LinkedIn profile says. In May 2023, Sesame Street introduced T.J., its first Filipino Muppet on a segment with actor Kal Penn. T.J. talks about his growing confidence while learning Tagalog, one of the main languages spoken in the Philippines. "I'm confident because I can always ask my lola for help when I don't know a word," T.J. says, using the Tagalog term for grandmother. Palacios remarked in an interview with NBC, “I’m so proud to help bring some Filipino representation to the neighborhood, and just in time for API Heritage Month to show the range in our diaspora,” she wrote on Instagram. “His first segment with @kalpenn and Ji-Young is all about confidence, something I personally feel can help unravel the model minority stereotype.”

Mauro Feria Tumbocon Jr., Movie Critic/Promoter

Mauro Feria Tumbocon Jr. (Source: The FilAm.Net)

Tumbocon received CBS’ Jefferson Award last September. He immigrated to the U.S. 31 years ago and wanted to correct the misconception that Filipinos were miserable, desperate, and poor. He then founded and directed FACINE, or Filipino Arts and Cinema International, and organized an annual film festival in San Francisco for and about the Filipino community. Featured works include films, documentaries, animation, and music videos. “We are a very diverse group of people with a history, culture, traditions, and we have our own dreams and aspirations,” Tumbocon said in an interview with CBS.

Lady Aileen Orsal, Filipino Language Educator

Lady Aileen Orsal (Source: Good News Pilipinas)

Orsal was recently hired as Preceptor in Filipino Language (Tagalog) at the Harvard University Asia Center and the Department of South Asian Studies. She began her teaching career as a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University in 2018, where she assisted in the teaching of Filipino at the introductory and intermediate levels. Since then, she has taught Filipino at Cavite State University in the Philippines and, this summer, she was an Instructor in the Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Prior to coming to the U.S., Orsal received her B.A. in Mass Communication from Cavite State University in the Philippines in 2012, and her M.A. in Philippine Studies in 2017. She is currently completing both an M.A. in Communication from Northern Illinois University and a Ph.D. in Philippine Studies from De La Salle University in the Philippines. Both degrees are expected to be completed in 2024. She is a dedicated, creative, and effective teacher who is committed to being a leader in Filipino language pedagogy. She also has an impressive background in Philippine Studies, including Philippine culture, history, and politics. She has conducted research and published on traditional tattoo art, the coffee culture of the Philippines, and the use of music in political campaign jingles.

Elaine Abelaye-Mateo, Non-Profit Consultant

Abelaye-Mateo is the founder of Everyday Impact Consulting (EIC). As an innovative social change executive with a passion for building meaningful relationships to create social good, Abelaye-Mateo is recognized for her forward-thinking and collective approaches towards solving social issues. Her portfolio includes California’s largest philanthropic institutions, and complex, multisector statewide initiatives. She has founded several organizations in addition to EIC, including Sacramento Building Healthy Communities and the APIs RISE Fund, a grantmaking organization that has contributed nearly $200,000 to local organizations. She has received awards from OCA Sacramento (Women of Influence Award), Sacramento Cultural Hub (Exceptional Woman of Color) and Sacramento Housing Alliance (inaugural Equity Award). Abelaye-Mateo earned a Ph.D. in Organizational Systems and holds an M.A. in Management and a B.A. in Communications.

Aaron Verzosa, Chef

Chef Aaron Versoza (Source: James Beard Foundation|Photo by Rene Asis)

Verzosa is the chef and owner of Archipelago in Seattle. He recently received the James Beard Award nomination for Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific. “Being able to amplify and showcase stories about Filipino American culture, the communities here, specifically in the Northwest, and the immigrant story that my parents came with … I was just very humbled to be able to showcase what the sacrifice was and be able to represent the region in that way,” he says in a South China Morning Post interview. Archipelago, named because the Philippines is comprised of 7,100 islands, has been dishing out a seasonal tasting menu since 2018. Verzosa and his wife, Amber Manuguid, wanted a “Pacific Northwest restaurant first and foremost.” But there’s a “Filipino American-ness” intrinsic to the meals too. For instance, Verzosa might swap out tamarind for wild lingonberries. He does his own take on Filipino banana ketchup with sweeter tubers or root vegetables. With only 12 seats in the restaurant, Verzosa chats with every patron. “When we have Filipinos coming from the Philippines and we have Filipinos that are here from the U.S. — whether they be first, second, all the way to fifth generation — there’s a really beautiful way to connect with them differently,” Verzosa said.

Robyn Lauren Brown, Athlete

Robyn Lauren Brown (Photo by Ye Aung Thu | AFP| Inquirer.net)

Brown outpaced two Japanese bets to grab the gold medal for the Philippines in the women’s 400-meter hurdles on Day 4 of the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships at the National Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. In the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, she won the silver medal. Her father, Kurtis Brown, was a former respiratory therapist while her mother, Susana Crisostomo, is a nurse in Los Angeles. Brown graduated from Ruben S. Ayala High School in Chino Hills, California and in 2012 attended Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California for two years. She was a member of the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine track and field team at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Marah Sotelo, Actor and Singer

Sotelo is from Bacolod City, Philippines, who immigrated to a suburb in Chicago and now resides in the Bay Area. As a child, she was exposed to musicals that played locally. “Singing and dancing” were parts of Soleto’s childhood, a “big part of Filipino culture.” In high school she was involved in the theater department and became part of theater productions like Once Upon a Mattress, Guys and Dolls and Cabaret. She majored in vocal performance in college but changed her mind halfway and ended up with an education degree. She worked as an elementary school teacher for many years but could not resist the lure of theater. Some of her roles include Cinderella in Into the Woods (Berkeley Playhouse), Cathy in The Last Five Years and Linda Low in Flower Drum Song (Palo Alto Players), Candela in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Town Hall), Sally Bowles in Cabaret (Pacifica), Eponine in Les Miserables. Last June, Sotelo had the starring role in the three-time Tony Award-winning musical, She Loves Me. In an interview with Inquirer.net, Sotelo says she loves “being up on stage, being visible, and inspiring other people.”

Kihei Clark, Basketball Player

Former University of Virginia point guard Clark was signed to the NBA Summer League roster of the Utah Jazz from July 3-17, 2023. In his final season at Virginia, Clark averaged 10.7 points, 5.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.0 steal per game and shot 35.2 percent from three-point range. He ranked second in the ACC in both assists and assist/turnover ratio was an All-ACC Third Team and ACC All-Defensive Team selection in 2022-2023. Clark ended his decorated five-year collegiate career as a four-time All-ACC selection, the Atlantic Coast Conference's all-time leader in conference wins and minutes played, and Virginia's all-time leader in wins, games, starts, and assists. Clark was born in Tarzana, California. His father is Chinese and African American and his mother is Filipino from Ilocos. He was named Kihei after the town in Hawaii where his father proposed to his mother. He started playing basketball with his father who also played the sport in college.

Leonard “Butch” Dollaga, Navy Admiral

Rear Adm. Leonard “Butch” Dollaga (Source: Navy.Mil)

Rear Adm. Dollaga is a native of Vallejo, California and a 1990 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He holds a master’s degree in Engineering Management from George Washington University in Washington, DC. His sea tours include division officer assignments aboard USS Los Angeles (SSN 688); engineer officer aboard USS Rhode Island (SSBN 740)(B); and executive officer aboard USS Cheyenne (SSN 773). He commanded USS Charlotte (SSN 766) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and also served as commodore of Submarine Development Squadron 12, Groton, Connecticut. His shore and staff assignments include admissions officer at the U.S. Naval Academy; technical assistant to the Director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion; nuclear officer program manager and the submarine officer community manager on the staff of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Manpower, Personnel, Training, and Education); Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet prospective commanding officer instructor (Submarine Command Course); chief, program and budget branch on the Joint Staff (J8) Directorate (Program and Budget Analysis Division); and director, Congressional Liaison Appropriations Matters Office (FMBE) on the staff of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (FM&C). His flag assignments include commander, Undersea Warfighting Development Center in Groton, CT, and most recently commander, Submarine Group SEVEN/Task Force 54/Task Force 74 leading undersea operations in both CENTCOM and INDOPACOM areas of responsibility. He completed three overseas deployments in Indo-Pacific Command and five strategic deterrent patrols in the Atlantic. The units he served with collectively earned four unit awards, five Battle Es, and U.S. Pacific Fleet’s Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy.

Source: Google and Wikipedia

The Magazine

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 53