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.

Max Bacerra, Real Estate Specialist

Max Bacerra *(Source: Housing & Opportunity Foundation of Kern)*

Bacerra is the president and founder of Pacificus IV Company, a recognized policy planning and land use consulting firm in the San Joaquin Valley, California. Born in Delano during the Grape Strike in 1965, Bacerra still remembers the sound of crop dusters and the rain of pesticides on the grape fields where he worked with his father, his older brother, and uncles (manongs). His father, Maximino, immigrated from the Philippines in the 1920s, started work in Salinas, and later moved to Delano. He said it was hard to miss work despite the heat and low wages because you could get fired. But that changed in September 1965 when hundreds of Filipino migrant workers refused to work and walked out of the field. They were joined by the Hispanic migrant workers later led by Cesar Chavez. He said he is inspired by the dreams his parents sacrificed so he could live out his own. He hopes that the lessons from former manongs and manangs (aunts) would inspire the next generations too. “That’s the legacy we have – to remember the manongs and what they sacrificed. These kids that come over now, they have dreams and that’s great,” Bacerra said, “but for the first wave of manongs, they had dreams too but they couldn’t achieve them because those opportunities weren’t open to them.” Bacerra served on the Board for the Housing Authority of the County of Kern as Chairman. Each year, the Housing Authority funds a scholarship program, now known as the Max Bacerra Scholarship Awards Program, through its discretionary funds. He was also instrumental in developing the Larry Itliong Unity Park inaugurated last May 11, 2024 in Delano.

Genevie de Castro, Children’s Library Founder and Director

De Castro, a native of Tayug, Pangasinan, graduated with a degree in elementary education from the University of the Cordilleras in Baguio City. She was the executive director of Love Education Philippines, an organization that provides enriching activities and quality learning materials to inspire young minds. She was the Baguio City project manager of Reading Buddies, a volunteer program that promotes reading and the love of reading to children. Currently, she works as a special-education teacher at Grover Cleveland Elementary School in Chicago. Additionally, she is the founder and director of the Rizal Center Pamana Children's Library, which preserves and promotes Filipino heritage and values. The library offers books by Filipino authors for children to explore and learn from. Parents can also find books to share the joys of Filipino culture with their children. Volunteers assist in story time, singing concerts, and art-and-theater workshops, which are some of the activities held at the library.

(Submitted by Rey de la Cruz)

Laureen Laglagaron, Lawyer

Laureen Laglagaron *(Source: Citizen Pinay)*

Laglagaron is an Attorney-Advisor at the Federal Coordination and Compliance Section of the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice. She handles discrimination cases; provides technical and legal assistance; offers regulatory, policy, and program review; and coordinates federal civil rights enforcement. Her work focuses on national origin discrimination against persons with limited English proficiency. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles school of Law.

Maria Valdehueza, Golden State Warriors

Valdehueza is the Vice President of Ticketing for the Golden State Warriors. She created the Filipino Heritage Night where food trucks and tailgaters, Filipino DJs, and Filipino anthem singers converge to produce a sensory cultural experience. The Filipino Heritage Night is the most successful ticket sales night so that they now have it twice a year, one in the fall and one in spring. “It was certainly a passion project for me, honestly," Valdehueza told NBC Sports Bay Area. "I am a proud Pinay. So, the thought of bringing culture to the basketball court was something that totally piqued my interest." Connecting with fans in an authentic way motivates Valdehueza. She is also a member of the inaugural Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council.

Edward Curammeng, Associate Professor

Curammeng (Ph.D., Education, UCLA) is an Associate Professor in the College of Education at California State University, Dominguez Hills. His research examines the relationship between Education and Ethnic Studies for students and teachers of color. His scholarship draws from critical race studies, Asian American studies, and portraiture and is informed by Ethnic Studies frameworks and critical pedagogies. He has published in The Educational Forum, Race Ethnicity & Education, English Teaching, Practice and Critique, and Rethinking Ethnic Studies. In 2019, Dr. Curammeng won an Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Research on the Education of Asian and Pacific Americans Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association. Upon transferring from Ohlone College, he earned his BA and MA in Asian American studies from San Francisco State University where he taught middle and high school Filipino American and Ethnic Studies with Pin@y Educational Partnerships. Curammeng is a part of the People's Education Movement.

Sabrina Ellison, Dance Director

Filipina Pakistani American Ellison is the dance director of the National Basketball Association champion team Golden State Warriors. Her mother, Ofelia Ochoco, was born and raised in Tondo, Manila, Philippines, and Sabrina was raised by the Filipino side of her family when her parents separated. “I was fortunate enough to have my Lolo and Lola (Grandpa and Grandma) live with us, so I was submerged in the Filipino culture at a young age, became very family-oriented, hospitable, love celebrations (music and dance), thoroughly enjoy Filipino food and learned how to understand and speak Tagalog. My mom took me back to the Philippines almost every year up until my early teenage years,” Ellison intimates in Inquirer.net. She finished her BA degree in communications at the University of San Francisco where she was the dance team captain, National Football League (NFL) San Francisco 49ers Cheerleader/Captain and six-season Pro Bowl cheerleader and two-season NFL Seattle Seahawks cheerleader. She became dance team director for NBA teams starting with Seattle Supersonics before going to the Oklahoma City Thunder (OKC) for four seasons (she founded the OKC Thunder dance team). She is now on her sixth season as the dance team director for the Warriors.

Patrice Cleary, Owner of Purple Patch

Patrice Cleary *(Source: Joanne Lawton | Washington Business Journal)*

Cleary opened Purple Patch in 2015 In Washington, D.C. She was born in Subic Bay in the Philippines to an American father and Filipino mother and moved around the world as a Navy brat. After graduating from high school in Maryland, she joined the Marine Corps, which took her to Japan and Korea. She started Purple Patch with her husband with limited Filipino food items, but they split up a year later, and she was served divorce papers in the dining room on a Friday night. She held on to her dreams as an ambassador of Filipino cuisine in the nation’s capital because she feared “letting my people down.” Cleary’s mother, who now lives with her, previously cooked in military officers’ clubs and had her own catering business in Texas. She intends to open in October another restaurant, Joia Burger, named after a horse she had as a child, featuring burgers, French fries, and ube soft serve ice cream.

Michele Josue, Director

Michele Josue *(Source: Michelejosue.com)*

Josue is an Emmy award-winning Filipino filmmaker. Her debut Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine is the winner of several film festival awards worldwide and a 2016 Daytime Emmy Award. She is the Director, Lead Editor, and Executive Producer of Happy Jail, the Netflix Original documentary series about the world-famous Filipino “Dancing Inmates” that won the 2021 Silver Telly Award for Series Documentary for Television. Her films have screened at festivals including IDFA, DOC NYC, Mill Valley, Chicago, Cleveland International and at venues including the Washington National Cathedral and U.S. Department of State. Nurse Unseen, her recent work about unsung Filipino American nurses, made Michele a 2021 Film Independent Fast Track Fellow. She has served as a juror at several film festivals and was a speaker and guest on various film panels, podcasts, and shows including The View. Her essays have been featured in Indiewire, The Huffington Post, and The New York Times Upfront.

Lourdes Moldre, Nurse Executive Patient Care Director

Moldre is a Nurse Executive Patient Care Director at UCSF Health in San Francisco. She has over 20 years of health care experience as a front-line registered nurse, an acute care nurse practitioner, and a nurse leader. Most recently, she was part of the Filipino Young Leader’s Program (FYLPRO) courtesy of the Philippine Consulate, US Embassy, and Ayala Foundation. Additionally, she received a two-year grant to launch a Nurse Wellness Program to battle nurse burnout and improve staff retention. She was also recognized as one of the 40 under 40 honorees in 2022 by San Francisco Business Times. Moldre also received the Healthcare Hero Award in 2021 from California State Senator Richard Pan for her ongoing work with focused Covid-19 education in Filipino communities. She is an immigrant, a working mother of three biracial children, and a resilient executive nurse leader who wants to improve health care equity and access for the underrepresented. She continues to be a voice for Filipino nurses.

Erika Cruz Guevarra, Host and Producer

Ericka Cruz Guevarra is the host and producer of KQED’s local daily news podcast The Bay. She won a 2020 Excellence in Journalism award from the Society of Professional Journalists for her three-part series on policing in Vallejo, California. She previously worked as a breaking news reporter for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland, helped produced NPR’s Code Switch podcast, and was KQED’s inaugural Raul Ramirez Diversity Fund intern.

Source: Google and Wikipedia

The Magazine

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 59