My involvement with FBANC began in 2019. I met FBANC advisory Board Member Ted Borromeo at a CLE event that I hosted as Business Development staff during my time at Paul Hastings LLP. Ted told me about FBANC over a follow up lunch. With no lawyers in the family, the initial thought of a community of Filipino lawyers made more drawn to pursue what I knew would be a challenging career path. Learning about FBANC gave me immediate affirmation that I could be a lawyer too. 

After meeting with Ted, past president Laurie Lubiano introduced me to the FBANC community. As a pre-law student, I was nervous and felt like an imposter surrounding myself with lawyers when I was not even close to being one. However, at my first FBANC picnic, I found a family that welcomed me with open arms (Thank you, Antonio!). Since then, this family has grown ever since for me, and despite all my travels and moves across the state, the lawyers of FBANC have always been and continue to be a constant source of assurance that I can be a lawyer too. 

Being a Director-at-Large affords me the opportunity to support FBANC across a variety of areas. Having just completed my first year on the Board, I have learned the inner workings that drive FBANC’s operations, processes, and development. I aim to be instrumental and integral in furthering FBANC’s initiatives. My Director-at-large goals include:

1. Identifying challenges in FBANC functions to offer and provide support to address any challenges within FBANC and related to FBANC’s outreach; 

2. Driving strategy to improve the quality and impact of our processes and events by collaborating as an active committee member;

3. And serving as a resource for FBANC’s growing needs by supporting all officers and directors with any short or long-term goals.

I am seeking this position because I want to pay forward the resources, opportunities, and connections FBANC has given me. I was hired for my law school summer internships and became a privacy certified attorney because of my FBANC mentors. FBANC graced me with a generous scholarship that allowed me to pay for my Bar prep courses and Bar fees. While nervously waiting for Bar results, I golfed with FBANC friends (not well) who spent the day reinforcing their belief in me. Even once I passed the Bar, FBANC members reached out to me throughout my most recent job search to offer job referrals and make introductions on my behalf. 

Ever since I was a prospective student at that first FBANC picnic, I have always felt equipped knowing that FBANC members whole-heartedly made themselves available to me and unhesitatingly opened doors for me. I am thankful for this opportunity to submit my candidacy to be on the Board because FBANC is where I learned what it means to be a Filipino lawyer in service of others. I would be proud to be on the 45th Board of an organization that, through the years, continues to embody this spirit of kabayan.