Plenary #1: Ethnic Studies Advocacy

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Artnelson Concordia 

SFUSD ELA Core Currculum /Humanities

Artnelson was born and raised in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. He is the son of working-class, semi-lumpenproletariat, immigrant parents from the Tagalog provinces of Laguna and Batangas in the so-called Philippines. He is the father of four boys and is in cahoots with his wife to raise them to be active disrupters of the white-supremacist, patriarchal, heter-normative, imperialist hegemony. 

 

Artnelson has been a high school social studies teacher in the SFUSD, since 1998. Prior to that, he was an organizer in the historic Filipinotown community of Los Angeles. He brought his organizer experience with him into the classroom, which helped shape his community responsive approach to his teaching practice. He was a founding teacher of the SFUSD Ethnic Studies program that was the focus of Stanford GSE’s study that highlighted the academic benefits of the district’s Ethnic Studies offering. 

 

Currently, he co-coordinates SFUSD’s Ethnic Studies efforts. Until his ouster from the California Department of Education (CDE), he was one of three writers of the AB 2016 sanctioned Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC). 

 

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Dillon Delvo

Little Manila Rising Co-Founder & Executive Director

Dillon Delvo is a 2nd generation Filipino American, born and raised in South Stockton, California. A graduate of Edison High School, Dillon went on to San Francisco State University and received a B.A. in Cinema and M.A. in Asian American Studies. For 21 years, Dillon served as the volunteer youth minister of social justice centered St. George’s Youth Group for which he was a member in his teenage years. In 2000, Dawn Mabalon, Ph.D. and he created the non-profit organization Little Manila Rising in response to developer attempts to destroy the historical site. He served as the Senior Field Representative for Senator Lois Wolk. Currently, he is the Executive Director of the Little Manila Rising. Dillon has served on the Stockton Unified School District board of trustees, the Filipino American Democratic Caucus of California, and Catholic Charities Diocese of Stockton. He lives with his wife Rebecca and daughters Therese, Genevieve, and Colette in South Stockton.

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Plenary #2: Ethnic Studies Curriculum & Pedagogy:

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Dr. Allyson Tintiangco Cubales

San Francisco State University Asian American Studies, Founding Director of Pin@y Educational Partnerships 

Dr. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales is an associate professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University's College of Ethnic Studies. She is also the founding director of Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP), an educational pipeline focused on providing ethnic studies to schools throughout San Francisco. She is also a founding director of the Institute of Sustainable Economic, Educational, and Environmental Design (ISEEED) where she is the co-lead on the Teaching Excellence Network (TEN).  She received her Bachelors of Arts in Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley in 1993 and her Ph.D. in Education from UCLA in 2000. She has published several books and a wide array of articles that focus on the development of ethnic studies curriculum and community responsive pedagogy. She has received several university and community awards for her work with youth and service learning, including the 2006 Distinguished Young Alumnus Award from UCLA and the 2008 Faculty Award for Community Service Learning and recently received the 2010 Distinguished Faculty Award, one of the highest awards given to faculty for her service. She was recently received the Community Advocate Award from the Critical Educators for Social Justice SIG of the American Educational Research Association. She was also recently named one of the 100 most influential Filipina women in the world by Filipina Women’s Network.

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Jaynee Ruiz

Teacher at Tennyson High School

Jaynee Ruiz was born and raised in San Diego, California and is the daughter of Filipino
immigrants; her father Wilibrudo Ruiz, joined the U.S. Navy when he was nineteen years old,
and her mother, Josephine Ruiz, immigrated as a registered nurse. She received her B.A.
Degree in Art with an emphasis in Art History at San Francisco State University and her M.A.
Degree in Education and teaching credential at the University of San Francisco. Jaynee is
going into her fourteenth year teaching at Tennyson High School in Hayward, California, where
she teaches history and multimedia art for the Community Multimedia Academy. Aside from
teaching, Jaynee is an avid runner/marathoner, mother of twins, and a grass-roots Filipino
community organizer in the Bay Area.

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Tina Bobadilla Mastel

Teacher at New Haven School District

Currently in her 30th year as an educator, Tina Bobadilla-Mastel teaches at James Logan High School and Decoto School for Independent Studies in Union City’s New Haven Unified School District. She is the proud daughter of two immigrants from the Philippines: her mother, now a retired registered nurse, and her late father, who retired as a Chief Petty Officer in the US Navy after 22 years of service. Tina counts her father’s unending compassion for the marginalized and her mother’s strong work ethic as the main influences on her choice to become a high school teacher. Having established what might be the first high school level Asian American Studies class, helping to create the first Ethnic Studies department in a high school, and being a teacher devoted to fulfilling the varying needs of her students, Tina was chosen as New Haven Unified’s teacher of the year in 2017. Her efforts in the movement to rededicate a middle school to honor Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz earned Tina and her colleagues, Ivan Viray Santos and Joe K’ue Angeles, the National Educators Association award for Social Justice.  She has been a FAEAC member and a member of PASE for the duration of her teaching career. She has two children, a daughter in college and a son in his senior year of high school.

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Tracie Noriega

President of Filipino American Educators Association of California 

Tracie Noriega is a 2nd generation Filipina American, teen Mom, wife, and mother of 4. In her 23rd year in Education, Tracie currently serves the students of New Haven Unified School District. Her roles include Director of K-12 Instruction, Tri-Chair of the Equity Council, and the Lead for the Ethnic Studies Task Force. Equity, Social Justice, and Community Service are her pillars and ensuring that all students are provided opportunities for success has been her driving force. Along with her district duties. Tracie is the Chair of the Pilipino American Society for Education (PASE). PASE has provided scholarships for graduating seniors of New Haven Unified for over 15 years. PASE was instrumental in leading the Itliong -Vera Cruz Coalition, a movement to rename a school for Filipino Farm Labor Leaders, Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz. Outside of Union City, Tracie Noriega is an adjunct Professor for Concordia University, Irvine in the Department of Education, active in the Association for CA School Administrators (ACSA). Tracie is the President of the Filipino-American Educators Association of California (FAEAC); a member of the Filipino-American National Historical Society (FANHS); and a Board Member of the Bataan Legacy Historical Society (BLHS). Tracie's current work includes expanding the Ethnic Studies curriculum in New Haven Unified and supporting other districts with this work through partnerships including BLHS and the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies in writing K-12 curriculum for the inclusion of Filipino contributions to US History.

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Plenary #3: Hip Hop & Education 

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DJ Kuttin Kandi

DJ Kuttin Kandi is a "People's Hip Hop DJ Scholar" who was born and raised in Queens, NY and is widely regarded as one of the most legendary and accomplished womxn DJs in the world. Kandi is a disabled Filipinx-Pin[a/x]y-American Queer, Writer, Poet, Theater Performer, Educator, Hip Hop Feminist, and Community Organizer.  In 2018, DJ Kuttin Kandi was titled a Global Hip Hop and Cultural Ambassador by Next Level's Meridian International Center, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.  She currently serves as an Alternate Site Manager for Next Level. She is a member of DJ team champions 5th Platoon; Co-Founder and DJ for the Hip Hop group Anomolies; Co-Founder of the famed NY monthly open mic “Guerrilla Words,” Co-Founder of the coalition R.E.A.C.Hip-Hop (Representing Education, Activism & Community through Hip Hop), Co-Founder and Board Member of the new DJ Coalition - Freedom Sound DJ's, and Founder, Editor and Host of the podcast Hip Hop Bruha. DJing for over 20 years, Kandi competed in over 30 DJ competitions such as ITF Championships and Vibe Magazine DJ Championships. She is the 1998 NY Source Magazine DJ Champion and for 18 years she held the title as the only womxn DJ to be in the DMC USA FINALs. Kuttin Kandi has been interviewed and featured in numerous magazines and newspapers such as Source, Vibe, Vogue, YM, Rolling Stones, XXL, The New York Times, The Daily News, and the Vibe Hip-Hop Diva’s book. Kandi has performed all around the world with artists such as Bob James, Kool Herc, Jay-Z, Gangstar, LL Cool J, Mya, MC Lyte, the Roots, Young Gunz, Dead Prez, Immortal Technique, Black Eyed Peas, Common, Jean Grae, BlackStar, and punk Riot Grrrl group LeTigre, just to name a few. Kandi has been honored and performed at venues such as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Lincoln Center, and Madison Square Garden for WNBA’s NY Liberty. She is a known Pop-Culture Political Essayist, written for several anthologies and blogs and has been a Guest Contributing Writer for Colorlines, Racialicious and etc.  More recently, Kandi and co-Founder of Krip-Hop Nation Leroy Moore, co-developed the Hip Hop for Disability Justice Campaign and co-wrote "Hip Hop & Disability Liberation: Finding Resistance, Hope & Wholeness" for Disability Visibility Project's anthology.  Kandi is also the Co-Editor of the book "Empire of Funk: Hip Hop and Representation in Filipino/a America" and is currently working on new writing projects such as co-editing a new anthology on Pin[a/x]y Activism to be released Spring 2021.  Kandi is a 2018 Rockwood Fellow, a 2018 Artist-in-Residence with Kristina Wong and Samuel Valdez and has served as an artist-in-residence for U.C. San Diego’s SPACES. When Kandi is not performing she is community organizing, speaking, writing or lecturing. Kandi worked at UC San Diego’s Women’s Center for seven years specializing in social justice & diversity programming and within Student Life at Diablo Valley College in the Bay Area.  Kandi is an Organizer with Asian for Black Lives San Diego, Asian Solidarity Collective and the Intersectional Feminist Collective. She is also involved with the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance.  Today, DJ Kuttin Kandi continues to do community organizing work, organizational development trainings, coaching for liberation and provides various lectures on diversity, gender & sexuality, race, disability justice and etc.  

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Matt Ledesma

Adviser for CIPHER, (Center for Innovative Practices through Hip-Hop Education and Research)

As a 1.5 generation Filipino American immigrant, Matthew was introduced to Hip Hop at a young age by his cousin, Paolo.  He connected to the sonic sounds and lyrics of 2Pac, Tribe, Wu Tang, Public Enemy, MC Lyte and Mobb Deep during adolescence as a way to find identity in a city where being Filipino was not commonplace and found community through breakin. He obtained his undergraduate degree in sociology at UC San Diego, but it was his time serving as the chair of Hip Hop LIFE where he got his education. While pursuing his masters in counseling at SFSU, he maintained the now defunct FOBBDeep Hip Hop blog. For the past 12 years, he has worked in public education taking on different roles, including, counselor, teacher, dean, district compliance officer, etc.  But with each position, he seeks to connect his purpose with his passion by serving on the board of Rock the School Bells at Skyline College, advising student leaders as a club advisor Urban Youth Expression at South San Francisco High School, and teaching Hip Hop themed interim sessions at Oceana High School. With Hip Hop education gaining more attention as a culturally responsive pedagogical practice, it is even more important that it’s history and tradition isn't sugar coated and watered down.

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Dr. Mike Viola

Associate Professor at Saint Mary’s College of California Justice, Community, and Leadership and Affiliate faculty at Saint Mary’s College of California Ethnic Studies

Michael J. Viola is associate professor of justice, community and leadership and affiliate faculty of ethnic studies at Saint Mary’s College of California. His research focuses on critical educational theories, radical traditions and Filipino/a American activism and cultural production. He is currently working on a book manuscript that examines a Filipino/a radical tradition informed by Filipino/a American activism and anti-imperialist solidarities.

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Plenary #4: Issues in Education

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Dr. Lily Ann Villaraza

City College of San Francisco Philippine Studies

Prof. Villaraza has been teaching at CCSF since 2014

"I teach because every moment in front of students is an opportunity to be part of an A-HA moment. To witness it is a gift; to facilitate it– that A-HA moment - is a responsibility that I take seriously, joyfully, whole-heartedly, and with a passion that drives me to be a better educator every day. I teach because I love it; the conversations, the knowledge sharing, the discoveries, the A-HA moments. I teach because the possibility of instilling the value of – and love for - life-long learning in one, two, or one hundred people means there is hope for a better future for everyone. I believe teachers bear the burden of helping people discover their better selves in relation to the rest of humanity. 

As an educator, my responsibility lies in being a life-long learner, to be a model of what that looks like, and to encourage others to be the same – all in the hope that more A-HA moments can be had by all."

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Noel Abalos

Born and raised in the Philippines, Noel Abalos has a Bachelors degree in Education at the University of Santo Tomas and also a Masters in Educational Management at De La Salle University. His experience has ranged from being a Special Education Teacher to currently being the Vice President of the United Federation of Filipino American Educators (UNIFFIED) Northern California Bay Area Chapter. He is also a member and apart of the Organizing Committee for MIGRANTE Northern California.

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Plenary #5: Legislative Advocacy

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Angelica Cortez

Founder of LEAD Filipino

Angelica Cortez is the founder of LEAD Filipino, a San Jose-based volunteer organization that works to involve Fil Ams in civic engagement and public policy initiatives.  Since LEAD Filipino's forming in 2015, the group that grown to serve hundreds of community members each year through its Annual Fly Pinays, Awareness in Action Program (AAP), and a host of other public policy efforts.  Angelica's background blends nonprofit management, local government, and policy advocacy.  She has worked for the California State Assembly and a number of political organizations in the Bay and Los Angeles Areas.  Angelica's the current Director of Investor Relations and Strategic Coalitions with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and is active in numerous community organizations.  She has been recognized by regional organizations for her work with Asian Pacific Islander communities, including receiving Asian American Recovery Services’ Sister-to-Sister “Legacy Award”, the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific American Democratic Club’s “Rising Star Award”, the Santa Clara County Commission on the Status of Women’s “2018 Outreach Award”, and by NBC Bay Area. Angelica holds a BA in Political Science from San Jose State University, an MPA from the University of San Francisco, and is a current doctoral student at the University of Southern California.

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Cha Vang

Executive Director of Hmong Innovating Politics​

Cha Vang is the co-founder and Executive Director of Hmong Innovating Politics (HIP), whose mission is to strengthen the power of disenfranchised communities through innovative civic engagement and strategic grassroots mobilization. Founded in 2012, HIP set out to address the lack of representation and voices at the decision-making table. Previously, Ms. Vang work tirelessly as a community organizer to improve outcomes for children and families in the Sacramento region. She was born in the refugee camps of Thailand and raised in South Sacramento.

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Cat Nou

Chief Consultant for the California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus

Catherina “Cat” Nou has been a public policy leader for over a decade. Cat currently serves as the Chief
Consultant for the California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus. She previously served as Chief of
Staff for California State Assemblymember Mariko Yamada. Prior to joining the California State
Assembly, Cat worked as the California Policy Advocate for a national civil rights organization where she
focused on policies impacting Southeast Asian Americans in California.
Cat is the daughter and sister of refugees from Cambodia and was recognized for her work advancing
the human rights of Cambodian women and girls with the Courage and Leadership Award by Devata
Giving Circle and earned a 2019 “Rising Star” Award from the California Democratic Party Asian Pacific
Islander Caucus. She graduated from the University of California, Davis and later obtained a Master of
Arts in Higher Education at Sacramento State.

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