My parents immigrated to the US in the 80s with the hope of finding a better life. Growing up, they repeatedly reminded me of where they came from and how hard they were working towards that ‘American Dream’, to the point that I used to refer to the Philippines as “home” despite being born in Long Beach, CA. The point of why I like to share that story is because it helps explain why I am the way I am.
Currently, I serve as the National Political Director to PowerPAC.org — a social justice advocacy organization dedicated to empowering underrepresented communities across America. I played a major role in the launch of PowerPAC.org’s sister-organization, PowerPAC+, by building its initial technical infrastructure, development programs, and candidate recruitment processes.
Some of my other work highlights include:
- 2020: Specialization in managing social media advertisements for candidates across the nation.
- 2018: Rollout of $15 million nationwide program of supporting candidates of color like gubernatorial candidates Ben Jealous in Maryland, Stacey Abrams in Georgia, and Mahlon Mitchell in Wisconsin; and congressional candidates like Katie Porter, Gil Cisneros, and Ammar Campa-Najjar in California.
- 2014: Assisted in creating a new organization, PowerPAC+, a political action committee created by People or Color for People of Color, with Steve Phillips and Julie Martinez Ortega.
- 2010: Helped coordinate the One Nation Working Together (ONWT) campaign – a campaign of several civil rights organizations fighting for jobs, justice and education for all. I served as the New Media Organizer for the One Nation Working Together campaign reaching hundreds of people through Twitter, Facebook, email and the ONWT website. In the last week of the campaign, the New Media team organized over 90 organizations to send over 2 million emails.
- 2008: Ran the California Democratic Party 2008 “Yes, we can!” campaign in San Bernardino County. As one of the country’s fastest growing counties, I took on a rapidly growing area that had been overlooked and developed civic engagement training modules, implemented innovated new media strategies, and attracted and deployed a volunteer team of youth that contacted close to 1000 voters per night. My work helped turn San Bernardino County “blue” for the first time in modern history.
When I’m not working, I’m raising my two energetic children to be socially conscious members of society with my partner of 11 years. If they haven’t eaten me alive, at the end of the day I like to relax with a glass of wine. Prior to having children, I liked to travel, try new recipes, and write. Perhaps when they’re both in grade school, I’ll get back to doing just that.