Angelo Reyes is joining the NaFFAA National Chairman’s Council as Civic Leadership Forum (CLF) Director. In addition to his national role, Angelo will be joining the NaFFAA Capital Region as State Chair of Virginia.
Angelo spent his early years in Naples, Italy where his mother is from and Filipino father was stationed for the navy. At the age of 9 the whole family moved to the United States and the transition was challenging as the family adjusted to the US way of living as well as English as a second language. Stationed In Virginia Beach, VA, Angelo was exposed to the depth of not only the Italian families, but also the burgeoning Filipino population. This is where it further ignited Angelo’s passion and understanding about the importance of honoring his ethnic cultures of Italian and Filipino heritage but also the value of community belonging.
From a professional perspective, Angelo throughout his life has been drawn to the arts. He began his professional career as a creative director in the advertising industry and later decided to explore the television industry by hosting and co-producing the motorsports show Street Vision Garage, at 24 years old. He loved the work he was doing with the tv production and wanted to pursue his aspirations as an actor and received formal training with Lynette Sheldon at the LS Acting Studio in New York and relocated to Los Angeles to expand his network.
From a community service perspective, during Angelo’s college years, he used his marketing skills to support large cultural events like, the late Afra’Am Fest, as well as the planning committee for the Filipino American Friendship Day Festival from 2000-2005.
Throughout the last 20 years of his career growth he always made it a point to somehow give back to the community through donations to the PCC or volunteering his time and leadership to coordinate events, design free websites and flyers for nonprofits, etc.
He is a current member of Filipino-American Community Action Group and sits as chair of the Intergenerational leadership committee, an active member of the Southeastern VA FILAM LIONS club and continues to provide leadership and volunteer graphic/web design, video production to countless nonprofit local and statewide efforts. Angelo also sits as Vice President of Marketing for the Hampton Roads Philippine American Chamber of Commerce. He also volunteers his time with the Montero Medical Missions and is an advisory board member.
Angelo believes representation matters and in his current work as a filmmaker he consciously infuses representation through creating Filipino characters in mainstream stories or ensuring that there are multiple Filipino members in the crew. Whether it be his love for the arts or his passion for community engagement, Angelo believes representation matters. He is extremely passionate about representation whether that be in his production or film crew.
He is excited to translate this passion into his new role with NaFFAA as the National Director CLF, NaFFAA Virginia State President, and develop future Filipino-American youth into the leaders of our state and national seats. He said, “I am honored and humbled to be joining the NaFFAA team as the National Civic Leadership Forum Director. Our FILAM youth are an integral part of the Filipino community and I’m eager to help develop them into our future state and national leaders.”
“Angelo has already laid the groundwork in his own personal capacity to advance Civic Engagement activities for the Filipino community; bringing him onto our National team is a natural fit. He unique background will bring a great deal of fresh perspectives and experience to the table. We look forward to continuing our Civic Leadership programming and activities under his leadership.” -Brendan Flores, NaFFAA National Chairman.
Interested in learning how to get involved? Contact us at info@naffaa.org!
About NaFFAA
The National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization. Established in 1997, NaFFAA promotes the welfare and well-being of the four million Filipinos and Filipino Americans throughout the United States. NaFFAA’s vision is to serve as the voice of all Filipinos and Filipino Americans by uniting, engaging, and empowering diverse individuals and community organizations through leadership development, civic engagement, and national advocacy.
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