They Can Come Home Again
/Their trip is part of the Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO), in partnership with the Embassy of the Philippines in Washington, D.C., the Philippine Consulates General in the United States, the United States Embassy in the Philippines, and the Ayala Foundation, Inc. (AFI).
The following are the FYLPRO 2024 Immersion Delegates:
Christian Aniciete
Christian Aniciete
Aniciete was the first to set up the social media marketing program at Oregon’s most diverse university, the first in his family to graduate with a business degree and to give the commencement address, and was the inaugural social media manager for the Port of Portland and Portland International Airport, “America’s Best Airport.” An accomplished, award-winning Filipino American immigrant, Christian brings more than a decade of experience across the public and private sectors. His unwavering commitment to the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community, particularly advancing the Filipino American people, has been a guiding force throughout his work. He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and advertising and an MBA from Portland State University. He is currently the public affairs and communications coordinator for Washington County, Oregon’s most diverse county. He received the Portland Trail Blazers’ Hometown Hero Award, and the President’s Diversity Award.
Michael Baliton
Michael Baliton
Baliton is a 4th year medical student at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis and a Master’s of Science in Global Health at the University of California, San Francisco. He was born and raised in the Bay Area, California and traces his cultural roots back to Negros Occidental and Eastern Samar. Michael is invested in providing healthcare to underserved patients and communities. He has served as a leader and mentor through several organizations and initiatives focused on serving the needs of the Filipino community such as Bayanihan Clinic, Mabuhay Health Center, and the Filipinx Association for Health Careers (FAHC) at UC Davis. His scholarly work focuses on understanding and addressing the barriers that Filipino and Filipino American patients face regarding cancer screening, treatment, and surveillance. Michael was awarded the Robinson-Durst Global Health Scholarship to support his research in partnership with the University of the Philippines – Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH). As a member of the UP Colorectal Cancer Screening Committee, he is dedicated to the development of the Philippines’ national colorectal cancer control program.
Angela Rose David
Angela Rose David
David is a first-generation Filipino American, born and raised in Los Angeles, California, with familial ties to the Philippines (Pulilan, Bulacan and Naujan, Oriental Mindoro). She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2018 with a BS in Biology and a double minor in Spanish and Public Health. After spending two years interning with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on projects related to public health education and COVID-19 preparedness, she went on to complete a premedical postbaccalaureate program at UCLA followed by a year-long research fellowship at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Utilizing these experiences, Angela Rose now works full-time at UCLA as the project manager for a lab that explores health disparities affecting the Filipino immigrant population while also pursuing her MPH in Community Health Promotion and Education.
Jessica De Leon
Jessica De Leon
De Leon is a behavioral neurologist and assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She practices at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center (MAC) and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, where she provides clinical care for patients with a range of dementia diagnoses, including Alzheimer’s, frontotemporal dementia, and primary progressive aphasia. Her goal is to improve brain health for Filipino Americans and advocate for their dementia-related healthcare needs. Her research lab is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Alzheimer’s Association. Her studies focus on bilingualism, cross-linguistic studies in dementia, and Filipino American brain health. Through this work, she and her team developed the first cognitive assessment battery for Tagalog speakers in the US, and they have established a Filipino American cohort for observational dementia research. She serves as the founder and lead of the UCSF MAC Filipino Outreach Program, which provides culturally and linguistically tailored education on brain health and dementia. De Leon earned a BA in Neuroscience and Spanish from the Johns Hopkins University and a medical degree from UCSF, where she also completed her medicine internship, neurology residency, and behavioral neurology fellowship.
Gabriel Kramer
Gabriel Kramer
Kramer is a Filipino American journalist born and raised in Medina, Ohio. He is a reporter for the NPR station in Cleveland and proudly focuses on issues of race and equity in the region that raised him. He’s a documentary producer for Cleveland’s PBS station and the host of “NewsDepth,” a weekly newscast catered toward elementary school students. Kramer is the current president of the FANHS (Filipino American National Historical Society) Ohio Chapter and is a proud member of the Asian American Journalists Association. In Cleveland, he’s on the executive committee for the Cleveland Asian Festival. He’s also been a festival emcee for several years. Kramer is also involved with OCA – Asian American Advocates and he volunteers for One World Day, a Cleveland international festival. On Tuesdays, Kramer hosts bar trivia at the Academy Tavern on Cleveland’s East Side.
Michael Paranal
Michael Paranal
Paranal is a distinguished finance and legal professional and a dedicated advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). He is admitted to practice law in New York, California, and England & Wales, and his academic background includes a post-law degree from the University of Oxford, a JD/MBA from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Wharton School of Business, and a Master of Business Taxation from the University of Southern California (USC). Michael is also an award-winning professor at the University of Southern California and holds appointments as the Chief Diversity Officer of the Leventhal School and the Academic Director of its Masters in Business Taxation Program. A true champion of education and mentorship, Michael is the founder of two impactful programs: Guiding Exceptional Minds to Success (GEMS) and Real-World Ready. GEMS, an early-career development program for business students at USC, has mentored over 100 students and facilitated 50 corporate site visits, becoming a cornerstone of human leadership training at USC. Real-World Ready is a financial literacy program that partners with the Los Angeles Police Department to provide crucial financial skills to LAPD cadets and children in vulnerable neighborhoods. The program helps at-risk youth avoid street and gang violence.
Paulo Romeo Geronga Pontemayor
Paolo Romeo Geronga Pontemayor
Pontemayor currently serves as Senior 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, and other health organizations — the largest group of nonprofit health care providers in the nation. He also serves as the elected chair emeritus for the Partnership for Medicaid, made up of national organizations representing clinicians, health care providers, safety-net health plans, and counties whose goal is to preserve and improve the Medicaid program. He has an Executive Certificate in Health Care Leadership and Patient Safety from Georgetown University’s School of Health, a Master of Public Health degree from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University in DC, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in Seattle. A believer in lifelong learning, he is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he is a health equity scholar.
Myla Ramirez
Myla Ramirez
Ramirez (she/her) is an Environmental Health Scientist bridging the gap between science and policy. She currently serves as the Manager in the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Office of Environmental Justice. In this capacity, she integrates environmental justice into the government operations and policies within the NJDEP and the State of New Jersey. Prior to joining NJDEP, she worked on international public health program evaluation and environmental remediation projects through various non-governmental organizations. Inspired by her Filipino culture, she believes strongly in people power and that change begins at the local level. She is committed to supporting actions that create meaningful impacts in communities and uphold human dignity. Myla received her Master of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences from Columbia University and her Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology from Montclair State University. She is a Senior Fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program Network and alumni of the Bonner and AmeriCorps programs. In her free time, she enjoys cycling, delving into spirituality books, and traveling with family.
Alyssa Trinidad
Alyssa Trinidad
Trinidad is a community builder, civic engagement leader, and DE&I advocate. Originally from Boston, Alyssa is a first-generation Filipino American based in New York City. She is currently a Senior Bank Examiner in the Supervision Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, specializing in capital markets risk. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Alyssa previously worked at Deloitte in Boston as an auditor, serving clients in financial services. She also completed independent research on economic development at Ateneo Graduate School of Business in Manila as a Fulbright Scholar. Trinidad holds a Bachelors in Business Management from UMass Boston, a Masters of Accounting degree from Boston College and a Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government. At Harvard, she served as the President of the Asian American Caucus and the Treasurer of the Filipino Caucus, student-run clubs. She currently serves as the Executive Vice President of the International Society of Filipinos in Finance and Accounting (ISFFA) New York Chapter, where she advocates for the advancement of professional development for Filipinos in underrepresented industries. She is also the Treasurer of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) New York Chapter.
Dyanna Volek
Dyanna Volek
Dyanna Volek is a government relations and public affairs professional. Currently, she serves as the Manager of Government Affairs for the San Francisco International Airport (SFO). At SFO, she successfully supervises the legislative process and protocol affairs for a $1.6B operating budget department. Prior to her current role, Dyanna served as a Vice President at national lobbying firm Strategies 360, Legislative Aide to San Francisco Supervisor Katy Tang, and Policy Aide to San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee. In public service, Dyanna was recently elected as a Delegate for California Assembly District 17. She also serves as a Deputy Marriage Commissioner and on the Board of Directors for Planned Parenthood Northern California. A first-generation college student and daughter of Filipino immigrants, Dyanna started in public policy as a legal intern at the East Bay Community Law Center and the USDOJ’s Civil Rights Division and as a Judicial Fellow with the California Administrative Office of the Courts. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis in Sociology and a Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a licensed attorney and moonlights as a certified yoga/Pilates instructor and wedding officiant.
Sheila Larang Whittle
Sheila Larang Whittle
As a licensed educator in multiple states, Whittle taught Special Education and English Language Arts (ELA) at Title I Middle Schools, where she also served as the ELA Department Lead. Her commitment to educating and empowering youth earned her the Teacher of the Year award. Following her teaching career, Sheila worked directly with children and adults who have experienced human trafficking assisting with education, social services, employment, training, and recovery programs locally in the Greater Houston Area and abroad in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She currently works for an education nonprofit focused on building educator well-being, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and resilience. As Owner and Founder of Larang Consulting & Design LLC, Sheila conceptualized, created, and facilitated trauma-informed training for caregivers and direct service providers. Whittle holds her M.Ed. in Neuroscience and Trauma from Tabor College, B.S.E. in Special Education and English from Seton Hall University, and a Nonprofit Management Certificate from The University of Texas Austin.
Nanor Wong
Nanor Wong
Wong is an immigration attorney at The Legal Clinic in Hawai‘i, where she advocates for asylum seekers and the underserved immigrant population in Hawai‘i who are seeking help to navigate the complexities of the United States’ ever-changing immigration laws. Her legal practice is driven by a deep commitment to human rights and social justice.
Her story began in the vibrant city of Hong Kong, where she was raised by an extraordinary single Filipina mother who unofficially adopted her. The support she received profoundly shaped her morals and values, and inspired her to dedicate her life to transforming people’s lives the way her mother had done for her. Wong studied International Development at UCLA followed by a Juris Doctor in Hong Kong, where she worked with a nonprofit organization to provide a voice for victims of trafficking, abuse, exploitation, and discrimination. Upon earning a Master of Laws degree from UC Berkeley she moved to Hawaii.
