Fil-Am professionals in SF Bay Area to gather for networking day

Christina Schwalbe

Marian Catedral-King

Mary Ann Bautista

Minnie Anglao-Ott

SAN FRANCISCO — Nearly 30 Fil-Am organizations have signed-up to join the first Filipino American Networking Day organized by the Global Filipino Network in partnership with several community groups.

The event “Speaker Series and Fil-Am Networking Day” will be held on April 23 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at DeVry University in Fremont, California.

Co-organizing the event are the International Society of Filipinos in Finance and Accounting-SF Chapter (ISFFA-SF), Filipino Professional Network of Cisco Systems and Young Filipino Professional Association (YFPA).

This event highlights two major portions, a Speaker Series which consists of a Fil-Am panel of speakers from some of the biggest companies like Google, Chevron, Genentech, Cisco, and Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) and a networking session participated so far by 20 non-profit organizations and seven corporate Filipino employee resource groups. More group are expected to be added to the list.

The Speaker Series

A Panel of Speakers will talk about the topic “Finding Success In Your Life” and share their personal definition of success. The guest speakers are mainly mid-level managers of top Fortune 500 companies and include:

• Minnie Tanglao-Ott, Program Manager, Google
• Marian Catedral-King, Public Affairs Manager, Chevron
• Mary Ann Bautista, Business Architect, Cisco Systems
• Christina Schwalbe, QC Senior Associate, Genentech
• Erwin Bonilla, Program Manager, Pacific Gas and Electric Company

The panel discussion will be moderated by Carlo Dela Fuente, operations manager of Cisco, and Cathy Mendoza, former controller of Safeway.com.

A Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credit will be provided to any attendee by request courtesy of ISFFA-SF, one of the co-organizers of the event.

Communal Networking

As part of its mission to connect the community through education, GFN has combined the Speaker Series with Networking to provide the platform for collaboration and learning. The Speaker Series program focuses on various topics related to Entrepreneurship, Professional Development, Arts and Culture, and Community Advocacy.

The complete list of groups to be represented in the networking include:

1. Non-Profits

• PhilDev
• Project PEARLS
• Philippine American Press Club-USA
• International Society of Filipinos in Finance and Accounting

• Fil-Am Chamber of Commerce Silicon Valley

• Science and Technology Advisory Council – SV
• Philippine Nursing Association of NorCal
• Philippine Artists and Writers Association
• L.E.E.D. Filipino
• Young Filipino Professionals Association
• NAFFAA
• Baybayin
• Filipino American Arts Exposition
• WestBay Pilipino Multiservice Center
• PerkStart
• Upwardly Global
• Tri-City Health
• Greenlining Institute
• Philippine Consulate General Office in SF
• Global Filipino Network

1. Corporate Employee Resource Groups

• Cisco Systems – Filipino Professionals Network (FPN)
• Chevron – Filipino Employees Network (FEN)
• PG&E – SAMAHAN
• AT&T – Filipino American Communications Employees (FACES)
• Genentech – Filipino Americans Coming Together (FACT)
• Google – Filipino Googlers Network (FGN)
• Charles Schwab – Asian Pacific Islanders Network

1. Student Organizations

• Philippine American Student Association (PASA) of CalState East Bay

The program begins with registration at 1 p.m., followed by opening remarks from various heads of the co-organizers. The Speaker Series will be from 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. and the Networking session will be from 3:15 p.m. until 5 p.m. In the networking session, each organization can make an announcement or share information. Raffle prizes will be given away throughout the program. Around 120 to 150 people are expected to attend.

“I am very excited that a lot of organizations had signed-up to participated at this Fil-Am networking day event,” comments Arnold Pedrigal, Founder of Global Filipino Network. “Our mission is to give people the platform to learn, share, and create a collaborative and connected community”, he added.

GFN expects that this Speaker Series and Networking Day will be launched in various regions in the US as well. A similar event is planned late this year in the Southern California area.

Admission to the event is free and open to the public. Some of the corporate supporters for the event include DeVry University, which sponsored the venue, Western Union and LBC-USA. Philippine American Press Club, U.S.A. (PAPC-USA) is the official media sponsor. To RSVP, go to https://filspeakers.eventbrite.com. For more details about the event, go to https://events.globalfilipinonetwork.org.