Joan Cadete is a 20 year old current student at Temple University where she is a rising junior majoring in Psychology. She was born in Quezon City, Philippines, where she spent her early childhood, and has kept a strong connection with her Filipino roots and culture. Since the start of her college career, she has been involved with TUPAC (Temple University Philippine American Council), a student organization focusing on Filipino culture and heritage where she has recently been appointed Culture Chair for their executive board. She has also partnered with NaFFAA (National Federation of Filipino American Association) in the past by volunteering for events and even became part of a discussion board about Youth Professionals and empowering them. Through these experiences she hopes to connect with Filipinos and other minorities in America in order to empower them and their aspirations as well as giving them a platform where their voices can be heard louder than ever before. Outside of TUPAC and NaFFAA, Joan enjoys life through art and music. She attended an arts high school where she was given the opportunity to perform in various areas around the city of Philadelphia as a community service. She hopes to reach out to young minorities through art such as music, film, and mixed media, etc. because of the limitless ways one is able to express themselves through it.

Read “Farther Away From my Far Away Home: Empowerment Through Representation and Celebration Small Victories” by Joan Cadete.

John Camara is a rising senior at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS) in Geneva, New York. He is pursuing two majors in Economics and International Relations. In his first and second years of college, John dedicated himself to community service, serving as Philanthropy Chair of Sigma Chi fraternity and volunteering in service events such as Days of Service and alternative spring break. Committed to discussing critical on-campus issues, John now serves as President of Hobart Student Government. Born to two immigrants in Honolulu, Hawaii and raised in Los Angeles, California, John self-identifies as a second-generation immigrant and a Filipino-American. Through his experiences, John has developed an interest for advocating on issues affecting the AAPI community. In the summer of 2017, he interned with the US Forest Service and worked on a group project analyzing gentrification with the Conference for Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL). He also represented HWS Asian Student Union at the 2018 East Coast Asian American Students Union Conference. John has interned for nonprofits and public officials, and on his free time, he likes to run, hike, and watch movies. After college, John hopes to enter a public service career.

Austin Chavez is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. On campus, he currently serves as the Vice President of the Asian Pacific Student Alliance and as a Diversity Student Ambassador for his campus multicultural office, where he is tasked with programming and budgeting during the cultural heritage months. Off campus, he has interned and worked for the Smithsonian, D.C. Public Schools, and at Brown University at varying roles and capacities.

Born in the Philippines and raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Austin has witnessed first-hand the disparities faced by minorities in urban cities and public education which he sees as Filipino-American issues as well. He believes that public education and programs are ultimately about people’s livelihoods; they are about the kind of life we want and expect for our people. Since attending college, he has developed a passion for education equity, education justice, and community development. The kind of life he wants and expects for his community is the ability for them to think critically without fear.

Read Filipino-American Mental Health: It Starts With A Conversation by Austin Chavez

From Manila, Philippines, Franz Sandil is a senior at Georgetown University majoring in Health Care Management and Policy. As an aspiring social entrepreneur, his focus is to develop technological advances and innovations in the healthcare industry to not only make it more efficient and effective, but also bridge the gap in health care disparities in the world. In the future, he hopes to find a career in which he is able to combine his passion of technology, business, and healthcare.

In addition, he runs his own lifestyle blog site fsandil.com producing content that covers travel, style, and world cuisine. When back home at Houston, Texas, he operates his business, Aura Event Productions, specializing in event planning and services. He provides clients with unique ideas, motifs, decor, lighting, audio, and DJ services for their events.

He has served as past Student of Color Alliance Representative, Vice President and President of Georgetown Club Filipino. Currently he is the Director of Marketing for TEDxGeorgetown focusing on sharing and elevating the stories of individuals with igniting ideas worth spreading. As an EPYC Ambassador, he looks forward to seeing how Filipino leaders can make change across all industries, especially in health systems.

Read by “To All The Generations That Have Immigrated Before” by Franz Sandil.

Louis Medel is a 23 years old, born in Washington D.C. He, however spent his early childhood years in Manila and went to high school in California. He recently moved back to Washington D.C. a couple of years ago and is a college graduate from Ithaca College. There, he majored in Integrated Marketing Communications. While taking digital marketing courses, he also took a lot of Asian American studies courses. He has earned a lot about Filipino American history and wanted to get involved with not only the Asian American community, but the Filipino American community as well. For him, being a part of EPYC means he can do just that. In his free time, he plays basketball, in college he was president of the breakdancing club and his dream job is to be a comedian.

Read Louis Medel’s EPYC Blog here.

Ysabel Sprague,19, is a second year student at the University of Virginia studying English with an interest in secondary education. She was raised in a multicultural household in the town of Vienna, Virginia. Throughout her life she witnessed in both herself and others the struggles that came with trying to have pride in one’s Filipino identity in a place where it is not recognized or thought of as important. Through her activity in both OYFA and EPYC she wants to help other Filipino-Americans feel confident in themselves and their heritage. In her university she is active in the Organization of Young Filipino Americans, where she acts as one of their Membership Chairs to bring people into the organization.

Although academics and The Organization of Young Filipino Americans are extremely relevant and important in her life, Ysabel always believes that family is most important. In her free time she enjoys talking to her family members, learning more about her respective Filipino and Spanish heritages, and reading all types of books. Through her experience with NaFFAA she hopes to gain a better insight into the Asian American   community around the US and learn how to empower other Filipino Americans.

Marissa Galang is a senior at the University of Kentucky currently majoring in biology. After graduation, she plans on going to nursing school. At the end of my freshman year, she was one of the co-founders of the Filipino American Student Organization (FASO) at UK. Their purpose in FASO is to spread awareness of the Filipino culture and invite everyone on campus, Filipino and non-Filipino, to learn more about the Philippines and its culture. Even though their organization is small, it has brought her many great relationships with other Filipino – Americans on campus.

Within FASO, she has been an officer on the executive board each year as Social Chair, Secretary, and Vice President External along with the Midwestern Association of Filipino Americans (MAFA) representative for her school, which is her current position. Outside of FASO, she is involved in a sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi (AOII), and Alpha Phi Omega (APO) which is a co-ed service fraternity. As a first-generation Filipino-American born and raised in Louisville, KY, she has experienced some challenges, but she has been able to get involved within the Filipino community and hope to branch out and connect with other Filipino-Americans in her area.

Read “Experiencing Diversity From A Minority’s Perspective” by Marissa Galang.

Charles Federico is a senior at University of Illinois at Chicago. Studying Information Decision Sciences with a concentration in Management Information Systems, Business Analytics and Operations and Supply Chain Management, he aims to do great things in the tech industry. Aspiring to become an entrepreneur someday he has involved himself in many organizations seeking leadership positions such as Vice President of Information Decisions Sciences Organization and Professional Development Committee Head of Alpha Kappa Psi (A Business Fraternity) to apply the things he has learned through the leadership programs and classes he has undergone. Several fun facts about this individual is that he loves to play ultimate frisbee, basketball and occasionally play video games. As well as being one of the two Jollibee mascots in Illinois. He loves the outdoors as well and likes thrill seeking activities like skydiving and white-water rafting. He is passionate about helping others, and creating connections with peers, as well as enjoying time with family and friends. He wanted to become an EPYC Ambassador not only because he wanted to refine his skills but to also gain knowledge and get back to his Filipino roots. He’s looking forward to leaving his mark within NaFFAA.

Read “First Generation Immigrant” by Charles Federico.

Cassandra “Sandy” Amorado, 21, is currently a junior at Saint Louis University in the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business in St. Louis, Missouri. She is majoring in Leadership and Human Resources Management with a minor in Psychology. Cassandra is involved in many extra- curricular activities on and off campus. She is as a member of the service and faith-based learning community, Micah. She will also be serving as a Small Group Leader for Micah, which she will be guiding freshmen students through their first year of college. Cassandra is also an active general body member in SLU’s Filipino Student Association. This year, she will be serving as secretary for the campus’s StudentsCare chapter. While not at school, she is working at Michaels Arts and Crafts store as a cashier. She loves to serve within her community and learn about new ways of self-development. Being born and raised in a small and rural town in Illinois, Cassandra is very excited to learn more about the Filipinx-American culture and its impact in the community. She is ready to serve as a representative for the Midwest region and for all the opportunities that NaFFAA and the EPYC Ambassador Program has to offer.

Read Not Everything is Set in Stone by Sandy Amorado.

Timothy Ramos is currently a sophomore attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He is studying Chemical Engineering and hopefully getting a minor in business as well. This academic year, he is the Filipino Culture Night Co-Coordinator for their very own Philippines Student Association (PSA). In addition to being part of PSA, he also enjoys dancing and spoken word poetry.

For most of his life, he grew up  in Bolingbrook, Illinois. There wasn’t a big, established Filipino community so he was never able to partake in his own culture besides going to family parties. NaFFAA has blessed him with the opportunity to be part of their EPYC Ambassador program and he could not be more appreciative and happy. Now, he believes he finally has the opportunity to explore his identity as a Filipino-American along with many others. Simply being chosen as an Ambassador has taught him one thing: no matter how much you know or don’t know, you can always make a difference.

Read “What I’ve learned about being Filipino in America” by Timothy Ramos.