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.

Kay Fernandez Smith, Program Manager

Kay Fernandez Smith (Source: Policylink)

Smith is the Program Manager in Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives at Apple, Inc. In that capacity, she works across the company's Racial Equity and Justice Initiative to develop strategy and drive external engagement with leaders and organizations. She brings decades of cross-sector experience working in philanthropy, government, and nonprofits to drive racial equity and economic inclusion to improve families’ wellbeing and close the racial wealth gap. Prior to this role, she was Vice President of Policy and Innovation at the San Francisco Foundation, where she established a new division to scale up their community impact. She also successfully launched and supported large-scale programs while she was Director of Community Benefits, Environmental Justice, and Social Responsibility at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and as Deputy Director for the Gulf Coast Initiative and Promise Neighborhoods Program at PolicyLink. Smith holds a master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and was a Fulbright Hayes Scholar to the Philippines. In addition to serving on the Board of PolicyLink, she volunteers as Board Chair of Forward Together Action and Mercy Housing California. She lives in Oakland, California with her husband, Allen Fernandez Smith, and children, Malcolm and Malaya.

Jian De Leon, Men’s Fashion Director, Nordstrom

Jian De Leon is a writer, podcast host, and author with over 10 years of experience. He was and editorial director for Highsnobiety, and reported on the intersection of streetwear, sneakers, and luxury fashion, and oversees digital, print, video, and brand marketing. He co-hosted “The Dropcast,” Highsnobiety’s weekly news podcast. Additionally, he authored two books published by Gestalten, The Incomplete Highsnobiety Guide to Street Fashion and Culture in 2018 and The New Luxury in 2019. He was also named one of Adweek’s 2019 Young Influentials. He's held posts as the Senior Menswear Editor at trend forecasting agency WGSN, the Deputy Style Editor at Complex Media, Style Writer at GQ.com, Shopping Editor at men's style site Valet, and was one of the first contributors to the tongue-in-cheek men's lifestyle site Four Pins. He has contributed to publications like Style.com, Man of the World, Business of Fashion, and New York Magazine. He has written campaigns and copy for clients like 23Stories, Ledbury, John Elliott, and Nike. In 2023, his alma mater, George Mason University honored him as a distinguished alumni in English. He is currently the men’s fashion director at Nordstrom where he oversees all aspects of the menswear business.

Alessandra Storm Mauricio, Science Whiz

At only 15 years old, Mauricio is already making a mark on the global science stage, representing both her Filipino heritage and her school with pride. She recently earned a spot in the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, thanks to her science video on Antibody drug Conjugates (ADC). In a video she introduces ADC as a “new hero” in the fight against cancer, explaining three critical components: the antibody, the linker, and the payload. “Using clear and engaging metaphors, she likened the ADC process to a missile, with the antibody acting as a precision guide to cancer cells, the payload as the lethal weapon, and the linker as a stabilizing ‘tool belt of amino acids’ ensuring the payload is delivered exactly where it’s needed.”

Maria Arcega-Dunn, Broadcast Journalist

Dunn is an Emmy Award-winning anchor and reporter for Fox 5 San Diego with an impressive career spanning over 25 years in local, national, and international TV news. Throughout her career, Dunn has had the opportunity to interview and cover several high-profile stories and personalities, including U.S. presidents, world leaders, athletes, award-winning recording artists, and more. She has had a front row seat to history, reporting on major historic events such as the turnover of Hong Kong and the civil war in East Timor, in addition to catastrophic natural disasters, including the earthquake in Haiti and the wildfires in Southern California. Despite her journalistic accomplishments, Dunn is proudest of her role as a mother to her son, Nicholas.

Manny Fabregas, Sign Restorer

Fabregas moved with his family from the Philippines in 1990 to San Francisco when he was 25 years old and took classes at San Francisco City College in fine art. It wasn’t until 2011 when he took a weekend-long workshop class at New Bohemia Signs that he found his calling. He started doing hand-painted A-frame signs and then began creating more advanced signs. He estimates that he worked somewhere between 75 to 100 restaurant or bar signs in San Francisco. Although he doesn’t have a particular style, he gets inspiration from old-school Italian typography to midcentury modern fonts and anything in between. The old signs evoke memories of old San Francisco, but the new signs help define the city for years to come.

Mahalaya Tintiangco-Cubales, Ballerina

MahalAya Tintiangco-Cubales *(Source: Westlake School/Facebook)*

Tintiangco-Cubales is a dancer who has performed at the California Dance Classics competition and won the 2022 National Senior Outstanding Dancer award at the NYCDA. She attended Westlake School for the Performing Arts in California and Juilliard.

Tintiango-Cubales, started dancing at the age of three. What started as a hobby quickly became a passion, as she fell in love with dance and began dancing competitively through her school. “Despite how diverse our dance community is,” she says, “it is beautiful how movement brings us together, simultaneously letting us tell our own stories.”

Describing her experience of navigating her identity within the dance world, Tintiangco-Cubales explains, “As a young woman of color without natural facilities like height and turnout, to be seen in the dance world I had to work so hard to compensate for my shortcomings by building my technique and strength. It meant so much to me to have Misty recognize that along with the passion and nuance in my submission.” When she won the school competition #XQMistyChallenge at age 17, she said, “Dance is a way of healing and liberation for me…Regardless of the health, social, political, and economic challenges plaguing our world, dance gives us hope.”

Eden Sabolboro, Multimedia Producer and Director

Eden Saboboro *(Source: Firelight Media)*

Two-time EMMY award-winning Fil-Am immigrant Sabolboro, is based in Detroit, Michigan.

Her work focuses on capturing authentic, immersive human interest stories especially from underrepresented perspectives. She is co-founder of Reel Clever Films LLC, a boutique production company specializing in non-fiction storytelling and branded content.

She participated in a few key labs and fellowships, namely the New York Foundation for the Arts’ Immigrant Artist Program, the Sundance Institute Creative Producing Lab (Detroit), and Firelight Media’s Groundwork Lab and she is part of Brown Girls Doc Mafia, as well as the Asian American Documentary Network. Some of my recent projects as producer & director include the Webby-nominated Senghor Reid: Make Way for Tomorrow for the second season of PBS American Masters' and Firelight Media's In The Making Series; Into the Sugarbush, an official selection for the TED Countdown Summit in Detroit; and WELL a narrative-documentary hybrid film funded by Black Public Media and is official selection for the 2024 BronzeLens Film Festival in Atlanta.

Eddy M. Gana, Therapist and Social Worker

Eddy M. Gana *(Source: Psychology Today)*

Gana (they/them), a second generation Filipinx American, is a licensed clinical social worker with degrees in Psychology and Criminology from UC Irvine, UCLAx with a Certificate in Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling, and USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work with a Master of Social Work and an emphasis on Child and Adolescent Mental Health. He is the Clinical Program Manager of Mental Health at Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA). Gana is a poet of Steady and co-director/host of Sunday Jump, the longest running Filipino-founded open mic series in Historic Filipinotown. Gana was recently honored with the Joseph Ileto Courage Award by Asian Americans Advancing Justice.

Lani Montreal, Writer, Educator and Actress

Lani Montreal has a bachelor’s degree in communication arts from Maryknoll College (Quezon City) and a master’s in creative writing from Roosevelt University (Chicago). She teaches English composition and creative writing as a full-time faculty member at Malcolm X College in Chicago. Drawing from her experiences as an educator, she wrote the book, FANBOYS: Poems about Teaching and Learning (Finishing Line, 2018). She has been getting glowing reviews for her one-person show, Anak ni Tapia: Leaving Mother. In the show, she explores her strained relationship with her mother, Mely Tagasa, who was popularly known in the Philippines in the 1970s as the character Miss Tapia on the sitcom Baltic & Co. Montreal’s 90-minute performance is seemingly effortless. “I bet my mom is whispering the lines in my ear,” she jokes. Writing is in Montreal’s genes because her mother was also a scriptwriter.

Contributed by Rey de la Cruz

Ruby Sibal, Newborn Care Professional

Sibal, sometimes known as the “baby whisperer,” is a newborn care professional and the founder of Beyond Baby Care LLC, currently located in New York City. She was first introduced to baby care while working part time as a sitter, and found that she had a natural way with babies as well as a deep passion for newborn care and everything that goes along with it. Her credentials include Certified Newborn Care Expert, Certified Infant Massage Instructor and Certified Lactation Educator Counselor. She is also a Certified Educator of Happiest Baby on the Block, giving her an incredible breadth of experience to back her expertise. There were so many families and moms who wanted to hire her, but she could only be in one place at a time. The intensity of focus required to provide the level of care Ruby is well-known for requires commitment: of time, energy, and unconditional caring. One of her clients even suggested that she “clone herself” to address the issue, and from that came the “aha” moment that would reshape her life. Summoning her entrepreneurial spirit, she founded Beyond Baby Care LLC to provide training and workshops to aspiring baby nurses and newborn care specialists. During the course of their training, participants undergo an on-the-job internship, preparing them to handle whatever situations may arise. She travels all over the United States and beyond to help new parents adjust as they learn how to care for their new child.

Ruben Salazar, Community Historian

Salazar is a Philippine-born Filipino American. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics at the University of the Philippines and moved to Detroit, Michigan in 1976 where he earned his master’s degree in computer science from the University of Detroit. Before moving to the US, Ruben was an instructor in Mathematics at the University of the Philippines. In the US, he worked full-time in various Information Technology positions and part-time as an adjunct in mathematics and computer science at Marygrove University in Detroit and DeVry University in Chicago. He retired as a database consultant from PepsiCo in 2012. Salazar serves as the President and Executive Director of the Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago (FAHSC) following the passing of Estrella Alamar in 2022. FAHSC is dedicated to preserving and promoting the history and contributions of Filipino Americans in the Greater Chicago area. He coordinates events and activities during the yearly celebration of Piyesta Pinoy (Philippine Fest) in June and the Filipino American History Month in October. He is also a Trustee of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) and helped charter the FANHS Greater Chicago Chapter in 2012.

(Contributed by Rey de la Cruz)

Source: Google and Wikipedia

The Magazine

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 63