My story
Two cultures.
One unbreakable thread.
I grew up in Cotabato City, Philippines, raised by my grandmother. Of Filipino and Indian heritage, I learned early that identity is not handed to you. It is something you build, question, and keep choosing.
Before immigrating to the United States, I built a life in the Philippines from the ground up. I founded and ran two small businesses, then moved into public service and humanitarian work — from the Municipal Mayor's Office of Sultan Kudarat to A Single Drop for Safe Water, and finally to Nonviolence International Southeast Asia, where I became a Humanitarian Disarmament Fellow. That work took me to New York in 2024, where I delivered a civil society intervention at the 4th Review Conference on Small Arms and Light Weapons at the United Nations.
Life in America brought real hardship. I navigated domestic violence, legal uncertainty, and systems that were never designed to work together. I rebuilt. And through that process I found the work that now defines me.
BS Accounting Technology, Notre Dame University, Cotabato City