Filipinos have been in the United States since the 16th century, yet many of their stories remain untold. For the past years, Positively Filipino has been running a series on notable Filipino Americans who have made their marks in this country. There are hundreds, or maybe even thousands more, that need to be added to this story, and we need your help. If you know of a Filipino American who deserves to be included in this line-up, please send us their names and any supporting documents you may have to pfpublisher@yahoo.com. For now, we are including only those who are currently active and visible in the media and the community, regardless of their religious, sexual or political orientation. Thank you.

Zinzi Evans Coogler, Film Producer

Filipino American Zinzi Evans Coogler is a film producer best known for her professional collaborations with her husband, Ryan Coogler. She was an executive producer on the historical drama Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) and the sports drama Creed III (2023). She also served as a lead producer for the first time on the horror film Sinners (2025), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.

Born in Oakland, California to an African-American father with Mississippi Delta Chinese ancestry and a Filipina mother, she was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area with her six siblings: five sisters and a brother. She was a three-time track and field captain at San Lorenzo High School, and graduated as an award-winning scholar athlete. She then studied communicative sciences and deaf studies at California State University, Fresno, where she was an outstanding cross country runner.

Evans first met Ryan Coogler while she was in high school; she became more interested in moviegoing while dating him. In an email sent to Marie Claire, Ryan Coogler noted her skills in breaking down films, telling them "I was in awe of her capacity for understanding the story and communicating ways it could improve since then." She later married Coogler in 2016, with whom she has three children.

Amielynn Abellera, Actor

Abellera was born and raised in Stockton, California. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychobiology from Santa Clara University, followed by her Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting from the University of Southern California. She currently is in the award-winning medical drama, The Pitt, where she plays a Muslim nurse, Perlah Alawi. To prepare for her role, Abellera reached out to the Filipino American Muslims in her community to learn as much as possible. In an interview with ebbymagazine.com, she said, “I was excited to hear their stories, experiences, and guidance to my myriad questions. Most importantly, I needed to understand how Perlah’s faith influenced or impacted her work as a nurse and healthcare provider. I’m still learning every day and ultimately feel honored for the opportunity to play Perlah.” The Pitt won the award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series at the 32nd Annual Actor Awards in March 2026.

Abellera’s father is a doctor, her mother is a nurse, and she has pharmacists, dentists and physical therapists in her family. She said, she observed first-hand “the strength, commitment and resilience necessary to work in healthcare.” She was set to attend medical school but decided to follow her passion for acting instead. She started performing at theaters before she landed screen roles. In addition to The Pitt, she has starred in The Cleaning Lady and Bosch Legacy. She and partner Anastasia Coon share a five-year old daughter, Sampaguita.

Patrick Gabon, Chef of Naides

Chef Patrick Gabon (right) with partner Celine Wuu (Photo courtesy of Marilen Bernardo)

Open just a few months, Naides is getting Michelin star buzz with its creative and modern yet clearly tied to traditional Filipino cuisine. Chef and co-owner Patrick Gabon, who was born and raised in the Philippines, has worked in a variety of restaurants. His resume includes stints at Alexander's Steakhouse, Sons & Daughters, and the Alpine Nordic-influenced Restaurant Milka in Slovenia.

At Naides, camera phones are out in full force at every table, as diners try to capture the magic of each dish. A reviewer said that “the experience at Restaurant Naides is exceptional.” Both the front-of-house team, led by Gabon's partner and co-owner, Celine Wuu, and the chefs present 11 to 13 courses ($205/person), sharing the inspiration or story behind each. Currently, many of the dishes use wild ingredients that Gabon and Wuu foraged near Lake Tahoe and preserved in various ways. Their thoughtful approach extends to the choice of various ceramic pieces created by artisans and even the menu, which is printed on paper made locally and collaboratively, using pineapple leaves discarded by the kitchen.

“The meal starts with three dishes inspired by Filipino street food, such as a reimagined delicate lumpia, okoy fritter made with shredded vegetables and topped with prawn tartare, pickled wild roses, and fresh oxalis. The star, though, is the teetering puto, a tower of a fluffy rice cake topped with pork rillette, lardo, and fresh herbs. Each dish is balanced and made with finesse, shining a new light on classic Filipino flavors. Gabon's refined take on traditional dishes kinilaw, bagoong, and sinigang made with abalone follow the street snacks……And then comes what may just set a new standard for bread service: an ethereal brioche-like pandesal served warm, with a trio of toppings including chicken sisig, chicken liver pâté, and atchara pickles. Combining them as you wish is one of the most pleasurable moments in a series of dishes that each surprise and delight in a different way……Desserts are just as exquisite as the savory courses, and include a tart made with polvorón shortbread, sweet potato, and a blanket of finely-grated, rare pili nuts from the Philippines, as well as a whimsical pairing of warm fermented rice milk and luscious rice ice cream.” (excerpted from 7x7)

Dr. Mena Ramos, Physician

Ramos is the co-founder and co-CEO of Global Ultrasound Institute (GUSI). As a physician, entrepreneur, health and medtech consultant, she specializes in healthcare innovation that bridges entrenched silos through meaningful workflow re-engineering with high tech/high touch digital tools to save time, lives, and cost. Dr. Ramos is a strong advocate for POCUS adoption across the continuum of care with a particular emphasis in primary care and global health. She co-wrote the original POCUS guidelines for the American Association of Family Practice (AAFP), published on POCUS in the Journal of Family Practice, the textbook Ultrasound for Primary Care, the CAFP journal, and was founding secretary of the AAFP POCUS Member Interest Group. She has led POCUS workshops at national conferences including AIUM, AAFP, ACP, STFM, FMEC and WCUME.

Dr. Ramos has served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations including Cuba Caribe (a performing arts, music and dance company), Women in Medicine (an advocacy group for sexual minority identifying women and gender expansive physicians) and chairs the POCUS Certification Academy Engagement Committee. Dr. Ramos graduated from medical school at the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, Cuba, family medicine residency at the Contra Costa Family Medicine Residency, and global health fellowship at UCSF – Contra Costa.

Angelo Lopez, Cartoonist

As a child, Lopez would draw on any scrap of paper he could get hold of. At San Jose State University, he became more exposed to the works of the fine artists and illustrators and muralists like Peter De Seve, Thomas Hart Benton and Diego Rivera. From April 2008 to May 2011, Lopez’s cartoons appeared in the Tri-City Voice, a weekly newspaper that covers the Fremont, Hayward, Milpitas, Newark, Sunol and Union City areas in California. Since December 2011, he been the political cartoonist for the Philippines Today, a Filipino American newspaper based in the San Francisco Bay Area. These political cartoons qualified him to join the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Lopez won the 2013 and 2015 Sigma Delta Chi Awards for Editorial Cartoons for newspapers with a circulation under 100,000, and the 2016 RFK Book and Journalism Award for Editorial Cartoons. He has contributed editorial cartoons for the European site, The Cartoon Movement, as well as Pitik Bulag, a Filipino political cartoonist group that is part of Rappler's Lighthouse Community of Action.

Leo Alquiros, Restaurant Chain Owner and Chef

Leo Alquiros *(Source: Tropical Hut Philippine Cuisine)*

Born in Mauban, Quezon, Alquiros cultivated his skills by cooking and selling food on Lucena City streets. In the beginning of the 1990s he found his way to the U.S. His career started in the corporate food research sector before diving into opening a local restaurant chain, Tropical Hut, where he operates as the head chef. He opened his first restaurant, Tropical Hut, in Old Bridge, New Jersey in 1999 where people can eat lunch or dinner, order catering or shop at the mini food section. Ice cream, sauces, chips, cookies, and other Filipino based products were available for purchase.

His fifth location in Maywood, NJ was a former Subway sandwich shop, proving his resourcefulness with space. He participated in missions to deliver food, healthcare and education to low income communities in the Philippines, Sri Lanka and India. "You feel you are giving back and you are doing something that is pleasing to the one above who is the source of all the countless blessings I and my family have received." In 2024 he won the New Jersey Business Immigration Coalition’s Caspar Wistar Award to recognize his economic contributions to the community as a restaurateur. Proceeds of his earnings go to support Bukas Loob Sa Diyos (BLD) and Gawad Kalinga (GK). The two organizations work together with the goal of eliminating poverty, providing homes and medical care.

Ged Merino, Artist

Merino is a Filipino American mixed-media artist based in New York. He has held solo exhibitions at The Drawing Room Gallery in Makati, The Cultural Center of the Philippines and other international exhibitions and workshops. He was part of the Southeast Asia Platform at Art Stage Singapore in January 2015, and in 2019 was selected for the exhibition “The Hybridity and Dynamism of the Contemporary Art of the Philippines” in Seoul, Korea where he also gave a widely praised workshop as part of the exhibition.

Merino co-founded Bliss on Bliss Art Projects New York in 2011 — which recently opened a space in Bogota, Colombia — with his wife Carolina Morales. The cross-cultural, artist-run space provides a platform for experimentation and presentation of new works for contemporary artists, writers, filmmakers and performers.

Ian Rivamonte, Judge

Rivamonte is a Superior Court Judge for Monterey County, California. Prior to his appointment to the Superior Court, Rivamonte worked as an associate attorney at Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood APC. Among his achievements was winning a $26 million jury verdict for a Filipina American client who sustained fatal injuries from exposure to talc powder. He is involved with the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (FBANC), the Alameda County Bar Association, the Earl Warren American Inn of Court, the National Lawyers Guild, the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association, and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. In 2011, Rivamonte founded and served as an inaugural member of the Diversity Committee of the Alameda Contra Costa Trial Lawyers Association, where he is still a board member. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego and a Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco School of Law.

Jayson Cortez, Fashion Publicist

Cortez is the founder and creative director of & Public Relations, a Los Angeles-based fashion PR agency. Born and raised in Pampanga, Philippines, Cortez was able to carve out a space in Hollywood by championing emerging designers and bringing their work to global visibility through strategic celebrity placements. His firm has the ability to connect both brands and talent to the right cultural moment.

Cortez studied Computer Science at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and at 22, he moved to Dubai where he tried his hand in advertising, marketing, photography, content creation. In 2022, he moved to Los Angeles where he took a position at a fashion agency where he learned the ropes until he could branch out on his own. “I’ve been very intentional about the brands we bring in—I want each designer to have their own lane, their own vibe, without overlapping or competing with each other. Keeping the agency boutique is important for that reason,” he says in an interview with uptownman.co.

Randal and Malou Kamradt, Writer/Directors/Filmmakers

Malou and Randal Kamradt *(Source: FilmFreeway)*

Maria “Malou” Kamradt is a teacher, choreographer, and filmmaker born and raised in the Philippines. She is an award-winner producer from her second feature film “The Monsters Without” a selection of the prestigious Fantaspoa Film Festival in Brazil, Macabro Film Festival in Mexico City, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and many more. Malou is also known for her writing and directing for Danse Macabre and The Mumu. Aside from filmmaking, Malou is a mother of two and a teacher of Migrant K-12 and Adult Education students in Ventura County.

Randal Kamradt is a Filipino American writer/director of award-winning films and plays seen at festivals worldwide. His films range from genre creature-features to historical drama, with a consistent focus on dynamic visuals and socially relevant themes. He wrote and directed Faraway (2014) and The Monsters Without (2021) which has premiered at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, played in festivals around the world. His short film No Dogs (2021) won Best Short Film at the Chelsea Film Festival. He is also Associate Producer and VFX supervisor on Tribecca Film Festival 2023 selections Asog and Smoking Tigers.

Source: Google and Wikipedia

The Magazine

FilAms Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 77