Maria Theresa T. Calimag, Esq., Chair of The Board

​CHAIR/GENERAL COUNSEL
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Manila born, LA raised.  Zealous and compassionate legal advocate.  Arts and Music lover.

Attorney Calimag graduated cum laude and obtained her Bachelor of Arts Degree at California State University, Northridge in 2005 prior to receiving her Juris Doctorate at California Western School of Law in  San Diego in 2011.   

While in law school, she participated in "KAMP" - Kuya Ate Mentorship Program - mentoring Filipino-American youth in San Diego. She was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States when she was only eleven years old.  She is fluent in Tagalog and English and is currently working towards speaking Spanish fluently.  

Attorney Calimag loves to travel.  She enjoys the beach, going to the gym, singing karaoke, and playing with her tabby cat, Cinnamon.

​​Claribelle Van Holland, Treasurer

​ENTREPINAY & PERFORMER 
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Claribelle is a true left brain, right brain split. Numbers by day & performer by night, she is a 2nd gen FilipinX from Michigan. 

From a heavy corporate media background, working with Disney & Pandora Radio, she co-founded furniture design house MFEO with her husband in 2011. 

This inspired the launch of CV Ledger, a boutique accounting & operations agency for creatives in 2016, then began performing burlesque as Mizon Garde in 2018, which would take her to international stages.

​​Aris Tagle, Board Member

​TEAM ONE

Aris Tagle is currently the Group Director of Digital and Social Media Analytics at Team One, a full-service marketing and advertising agency based in Los Angeles.  Aris has held leadership roles in digital marketing, analytics, strategy, and business development across various industries. 

A longtime community leader and activist, and has dedicated much of his life to community service.  Aris has been a member of the Pilipino Alumni Association of UCLA since graduation, served two terms as Chair, and founded the annual UCLA PAA Scholarship Benefit and Alumni Awards back in 2001.  He was honored as the UCLA PAA Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 2018.  Aris also completed a four-year term on the UCLA Alumni Association Board of Directors, being elected as Vice Chair and then Chair in his final year.  In 2019, Aris was honored by his high school alma mater with induction into the Whitney High School Alumni “Wall of Fame” in his hometown of Cerritos, CA.

Aris holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA, and an MBA from the Yale University School of Management.

​Winston F. Emano, Board Member

MANO Y MANO MEDIA
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Winston Emano is a principal of mano Y mano Media, a full spectrummedia consultancy and micro studio producing exclusive content for broadcast networks/new media on five continents. A specialist in film, he has represented more than 100 films for film festival, awards and theatrical release campaigns and is a sought-after media trainer for filmmakers and professional athletes alike. A William Paley Scholar at the famed SI Newhouse School at Syracuse University, he serves on the Academy Awards Host and IDA Awards Screening Committees and is a founding board director and Chair Emeritus for FilAm ARTS.​

​Alvin Catacutan, Vice Chair of The Board

Alvin Catacutan is a life long martial artist ranked and certified to teach multiple styles of martial arts. He’s worked in theater, film, and television as an actor, fight director, stuntman, and producer. Alvin has devoted his life to teaching children and adults to live healthy, happy, safer lives through the martial arts.

Training directly under the legendary Guro Dan Inosanto at the Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts reconnected him with his Filipino heritage.  

As the founder and head instructor of Pamana Kali: Philippine Martial Arts and Culture located in Torrance, California, Guro Alvin Catacutan is now on a mission to share his ancestral heritage by teaching Filipino and South East Asian Martial Arts.

​Marcie Taylor, Interim Secretary

​Marcie Taylor is a social media consultant, marketing professional, and freelance writer. She has written for the Orange County Register, Pelican Hill Resort Magazine, LA Travel Magazine, the Huntington Beach Visitors Guide, and Filipinas Magazine. Born and raised in Manila, she moved to the U.S. in 2000. She is the author of the book “Missing Mangoes: For Filipinos and Those Who Love Us,” a collection of personal essays about her experiences as an immigrant in New Jersey.

Marcie Taylor blogs at marcietaylor.com. She is also the Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of SurfCityFamily.com. She is the Founder of the Social Media Breakfast Club. She hosts two online programs on Facebook Live and YouTube called “Midnight Sessions,” which features one-on-one interviews with Filipino musicians and  “Mars Cafe,” an eclectic magazine show with guests including rockstars, artists, chefs, authors, and entrepreneurs.

She currently lives in Orange County, CA with her husband and two sons.

Follow @marcietaylor on Instagram and @marcietaylormedia on Facebook. Learn more about her social media marketing services at marcietaylormedia.com

​​Giselle “G” Tongi-Walters, Executive Director

Giselle Töngi, has long been active in the entertainment industry with over two decades of TV experience in both the Asian/American market. Primarily recognized for her acting in film, television and TV in the Philippines, winning several awards & nominations for her work, Töngi is also a writer and producer. Her past work includes the short film “Pinoy Grease,” “Pinoy Tango,” as well as “The Balikbayan Project: With the Bascos,” a 13-part travel series about a second generation Fil-Am family’s experience in the Philippines . As a Social Media Producer for Rappler.com, Maria Ressa tapped Töngi to produce lifestyle, theater and entertainment packages. For three years she expanded the only daily talkshow for Filipinos living in American called Kababayan Today, on LA18-KSCI to reflect Filipino culture and community. She most recently Associate Produced "America Adjacent" with the Skylight Theater in Los Angeles.

Töngi is a graduate of the University of California with a communications degree and double minor in film and theater. She is more recently defined by the many roles she plays off the stage. She has actively participated in or hosted many events and fundraisers in the Filipino American community. Her personal goals have always been aligned with melding her own bi-cultural identity. Growing up in the Philippines and America has given her a unique perspective, allowing her to value the importance of her roots. Töngi says that “to be able to bridge the gap between my own two cultures by creating content specifically for Fil-Ams such as myself is truly the focus of my professional career. To be able to be a voice in my community and be given the chance to represent the Fil-Am experience is also a way to define our culture and identity, which I take very seriously. This keeps me aligned with other people who are also working toward reuniting other fellow Fil-Ams together.” Giselle is currently taking her Master's in Nonprofit Management at Antioch University, Los Angeles and continues to serve her community  through her leadership in the FilAm arts and culture space.

 Do You Want to Give Back to Our Community Through Arts and Culture?

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Founding Executive Director

​​Jilly Canizares

​FPAC Co-Founders

Jerome Academia
Norma Requierme Austin
Juanito "Johnny" Balaoing
Steffi San Buenaventura
Lilia A. Cajilog "Firefly"
Romeo H. Salumbides

​FILAM ARTS ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

​Jose Antonio Vargas

Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, and Tony-nominated producer. A leading voice for the human rights of immigrants, he founded the non-profit media and culture organization Define American, named one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company. His best-selling memoir, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen, was published by HarperCollins in 2018.Passionate about the role of arts in society and promoting equity in education, he serves on the advisory board of TheDream.US, a scholarship fund for undocumented immigrant students, and was a former member of the Tony Awards Nominating Committee. Born in Manila and raised in Zambales, an elementary school named after Vargas opened in his adoptive hometown of Mountain View, California in August 2019.

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Jeremiah Abraham 

​Jeremiah Abraham is an award winning marketing and communications executive, working in entertainment for nearly 15 years across all major movie studios in Hollywood. He has recently led the entertainment division of IW Group where he worked across major movie campaigns for Warner Bros, Sony Entertainment/Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures, Lionsgate, Disney, HBO, and more. In this role, he majorly impacted the visibility of Asian Americans in Hollywood -- working on groundbreaking films and franchises such as Crazy Rich Asians, Searching, Harry Potter, and Aquaman.

Jeremiah has also held global positions across major entertainment and media corporations including Condé Nast Entertainment where he helped shape the marketing strategy for their digital video business - working with brands such as Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker. Jeremiah is currently a finalist for Cinematografo Originals for Slaysians and is co-producer for Yellow Rose and the upcoming film, Lingua Franca.

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​Dulce Capadocia, M.F.A.

​Dulce Capadocia is a distinguished Performing Artist, Teacher, Choreographer and Dance Storyteller exquisitely trained in both Philippine cultural dance and American modern dance. Blending the rich and beautiful traditions of her Filipino culture with the creative expression and artistic freedom of contemporary art forms, her unique choreography investigates how culture is preserved, absorbed and transformed by today‘s society. Inspired by field work and immersed in cultural traditions from being raised in a dance home, she creates new, original, award-winning dance theatre translating important stories drawn from native legends and informed by the human experience. Her work brings to the concert stage evocative, meaningful, often large, multi-media dance dramas.

Dulce  is a recipient of many multiple organizational grants from the California Arts Council, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, AT and T’s Association Rewards Program, Counterpulse Performing Diaspora and the Durfee Foundation for artistic excellence. She is a Brody Arts Fund awardee and a COLA awardee, a coveted fellowship given to exemplary contemporary artists regarded by the City of Los Angeles’ Cultural Affairs Department as a “Los Angeles civic treasure.”

Dulce is a long-time friend of Fil-Am Arts serving as a dance teacher for Eswela Kultura and as Chair and Co-Chair of the Performing Arts Mainstage; along with fellow choreographer Rose Lago, she programmed and curated visual and performing arts events for the Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture during its formative years.