Kevin Cabanayan, Director of Outreach & Engagement — UniPro | Pilipino American Unity for Progress, Inc.

Throughout my whole college life, I’ve been affiliated with the Filipino-American community, especially on a student/intercollegiate level. I was involved with many initiatives, such as managing a benefit concerts/shows featuring Asian-American YouTube musicians, planning conferences under FIND Inc., and leading several student-run organizations (FIND Inc., District III, FUSION of CUNY Baruch College). The sight of seeing so many Filipinos and Filipino-Americans unite under a common goal and purpose, inspired me to continue my work on a post college level, UniPro. Working alongside colleagues with the same values and visions, as well as colleagues who I’ve worked with for more than four years, is the reason why I continue to work for the Fil-Am community.

Being part of the leadership board of UniPro will allow me to continue my work in educating and enlightening members nationwide. I believe the community needs to be aware of the current issues us FIl-Ams are faced with, whether it’s here in the United States, or back in the Philippines. I want us to take action that would strengthen our identity as Fil-Ams, as well as provide for our fellow kapwa’s (fellow beings). “Self-awareness” is my theme for this year because our members should have access to workshops and community events that teaches us about our culture, the issues at large.

As we continue to unite our community through collaborative action, leadership development, and advocacy, I will strive for us to open our eyes and mind to areas of our culture that we have yet to uncover. I had the privilege to co-host a workshop at FACT (Filipino Americans Coming Together) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with our co-chapters, Chicago and Texas, where we presented a workshop to a completely different audience, the Midwestern Filipino/Fil-Am community, which was completely new to me and to the Texas Chapter. Since then, it’s my mission to continue to inspire and educate our members outside of the New York/East Coast regions.