Manny Crisostomo, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photojournalist

Born in Guam, part Filipino and part Chamorro, Crisostomo studied at the University of Guam and later at the University of Missouri. During his school years, he interned at the Pacific Daily News and worked for the Newson as a reporter. However, he was rejected from a full-time position at the PDN by the chief editor and offered a position of a technician in a photo laboratory. Due to this assignment, he grew interested in photography and soon became a photojournalist. As a staff member, he worked for the Columbia Missourian, then joined the Jackson Citizen-Patriot and the Detroit Free-Press as a photographer.

In 1987–1988 at the Detroit Free Press he worked for 40 weeks on a series about student life at Southwestern High School. In a city full of violence, he tried to show ordinary kids and their life. The photographs were supported with a 12-page article A Class Act, the Life and Times of Southwest High School. In 1989, the series was honored with the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. Crisostomo donated the money award to the school.

In 1992 he published Legacy of Guam: I Kustumbren Chamoru, dedicated to his motherland. As of 2020, Crisostomo works at The Sacramento Bee. In 2020 he published his fourth book Echoes in the Dance. In 2022, he had an exhibition "Pacific Gathering" at the East-West Center Gallery.

Abby Espiritu, Actor

Abby Espiritu (Source: abbyespiritu.com)

First generation Filipino American actor Espiritu voices Yasmine, the first Filipino character in @StreetFighter, gaming’s most international roster. Since its franchise debut in 1987, the roster of fighters included were from Japan, China, Brazil, India, Thailand, France, Russia, Jamaica, Mexico, South Korea and other countries but never from the Philippines. Yasmine becomes the series’ first Filipino representative. Yasmine’s fighting style is arnis, her attacks have Tagalog names, and her story also uses Filipino family terms adding cultural context.

Twenty-nine year old Espiritu is a Los Angeles-based actor best known for her voiceover roles as the English voice of Ajaw in the award-winning global phenomenon video game Genshin Impact; as well as the English voice of Romin Kassidy, the current female lead in the popular and long-running Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. You can also hear her in Disney Channel's Hamster & Gretel as Naya, the head cheerleader, and in the 2023 blockbuster Barbie as part of the ADR group providing the famous "Hi Barbie!" lines. Other notable credits include Misao in Rurouni Kenshin (2023), Liliana in Re:Zero, and Elegg in NIKKE.

She is also an on-camera actor from a number of TV/web commercials. Her biggest on-camera project to date is her role as the "Empanada Girl" from the 2021 Super Bowl commercial for DoorDash, which was seen by 100 million people. Abby starred alongside Tony winner Daveed Diggs and the cast of Sesame Street.

Francis Lejara De Los Reyes III, Engineer and Professor

Francis Lejara De Los Reyes III *(source: Civil Construction and Environmental Engineering)*

A graduate of the University of the Philippines at Los Banos, De Los Reyes is an environmental engineer, academic and global sanitation advocate. He is the Glenn E. and Phyllis J. Futrell Distinguished Professor and Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate in the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University.

De Los Reyes is most known for his research that combines modeling, bioreactor experiments, and molecular microbial ecology to address problems in environmental biotechnology and engineering, and his public outreach for improving sanitation in developing countries. His works have been published in academic journals, including Environmental Science & Technology and Applied and Environmental Microbiology. He is also the recipient of the 2022 Rudolfs Industrial Waste Management Medal from the Water Environment Federation.

De Los Reyes is a TED Fellow and WEF Fellow as well as a Board Certified Environmental Engineering Member of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. He was elected as a corresponding member of the National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines (NAST PHL) for his contributions to microbial ecology, biotechnology and environmental engineering, particularly in the Philippines. Moreover, he is an elected member of the Philippine-American Academy of Science and Engineering, where he has held leadership roles such as chair of the board and president. He also served as the founding vice president of the Filipino American Performing Artists of North Carolina, an organization promoting Filipino culture through the arts. Additionally, he has served on the editorial boards of several academic journals, including Transactions NAST Philippines and ACS ES&T Engineering.

Lily Brasch, Student

Lily Brasch (Source: Jewish United Fund)

When Brasch was born, her parents, an American father and Filipino mother, were told that she would not live past the age of four due to a rare muscle condition, non-progressive muscular dystrophy. At 24, she graduated from Columbia University. In an interview with philstarlife.com, she said, “My family has always been my greatest source of strength, especially my parents. My father taught me to challenge limitations rather than automatically accept them, and my mother has led by example my entire life. My Filipino mother is the most confident and self- assured human I know. My mother always believed in taking control of whatever life throws your way and finding the good.” During her graduation, she used a mobility scooter to traverse the stage. She added, “If my story helps even one person to believe in oneself, then every obstacle was worth it.”

Rigoberto Advincula, Professor/Researcher

Rigoberto Advincula (Source: UT Oakridge Innovation Institute)

Advincula is a Governor's Chair Professor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) - University of Tennessee and Group Leader, Macromolecular Nanomaterials (MACRO), Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) at ORNL. His research and group interests are: design, synthesis and characterization of polymers and nanomaterials capable of controlled-assembly, nanostructuring, and self-organization in ultrathin films and monoliths. This includes functional macromolecules, coordination polymerization, polymer brushes, electropolymerization, and preparation of nanoparticles and hybrid materials.

Dr. Advincula has led major projects including a fiber composite project with the DOE, EERE, AMO. He has a number of major awards with the American Chemical Society (ACS) and Fellow Honors; FRSC, FIMMM, NATAS Fellow, PMSE Fellow, Poly Fellow. Most recently he received Fellow status with the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and the International Prize of the Society of Polymer Science of Japan (JSPS). He is most passionate in mentoring young minds into the STEM disciplines.

Advincula earned a BS in Chemistry from the University of the Philippines, a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Florida, a Post-Doctoral from Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and from Stanford University.

Hapibel Duque, Special Education Teacher

Hapibel Duque *(Source: JeFferson Elementary School District)*

Duque spent 21 years of her life living inside a cemetery in Pasay City, Manila. She was determined to get a college education so she worked long hours at a mall in Makati until she earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Education at the Technological University of the Philippines. After passing the board exam, she taught in public schools in 2010, and then earned graduate degrees in special education and early childhood education that helped her come to the United States. Now at 37 years old she is a special education teacher in Daly City, California. The Summit Express writes, “Duque teaches students with autism and intellectual disabilities, managing the largest special education classroom in her district and guiding learners once considered unreachable toward independence.” She founded a Special Education Center in the Philippines and earned multiple awards including Outstanding Global Educator of the year in 2023. She plans to pursue doctoral studies, hoping her “journey from a cemetery to a classroom in America will remind others that perseverance, consistency and faith can rewrite even the most unlikely beginnings.”

Jared Dane McCain, Basketball Player

McCain is of mixed racial heritage: his mother, Jina, is both white and Filipino while his father, Lance, is African American. He is a professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA. He was a consensus five-star recruit and ranked among the top players in the 2023 class. He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils before being selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2024 NBA draft. McCain represented the U.S. at the 2022 FIBA U18 Americas Championship held in Tijuana, Mexico. He has gained recognition on social media by posting basketball-related content, personal vlogs and participating in trending dance challenges.

Liberty Zabala Simmons, Journalist

Liberty Zabala Simmons (Source: Facebook)

Simmons is a four-time Emmy-winning morning show reporter and fill-in news anchor at DC News Now. She is also the anchor/host of Veterans Voices, an annual half-hour special dedicated to the military and veteran community across the DMV. She also serves as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

She previously worked as a reporter and weather anchor at FOX 5 San Diego. She was awarded the Vada and Colonel Barney Oldfield National Security Reporting Fellowship by the Radio Television Digital News Foundation for her work covering Marines, sailors, active-duty service members and veterans.

A journalism graduate of California State University, Northridge, she served as president of the San Diego chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) when it was awarded in 2017 AAJA National “Chapter of the Year.” She is also a graduate of the 2019 “FBI Citizens Academy” and has a Master of Arts degree in Homeland Security with a concentration in counterterrorism at American Military University.

Cat Madlansacay, Wellness Founder

Cat Madlansacay *(Source: Pilipino Ka Ba?/Facebook)*

Madlansacay is the founder of Essence Planner, a company that designs wellness and productivity tools. She started the business in 2020 to help BIPOC people (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) manage their mental health and daily goals. She frequently speaks on podcasts and social media about entrepreneurship, mental wellness and reclaiming spaces for BIPOC wellness. She completed her B.A. in International Affairs at James Madison University.

Jason Lustina, Nonprofit Executive and Kababayan Network Founder

Lustina is the founder of the Kababayan Network, a platform dedicated to connecting the Filipino American community through meaningful content, events and partnerships. What started with a need to connect with Southern California Filipinos during the COVID pandemic has turned into a nationwide platform with 700k followers. With co-partner John Erick Pabalan whom Lustina met online, he created special interest groups to cater to specific locations and passions within the community under the umbrella of the Kababayan Network, which has now been turned into a registered nonprofit. The group receives more than 100 submissions and hundreds of member requests daily. Kababayan Network recently celebrated its 6th anniversary.

Lustina works professionally as the Territory Business Development Director for the West Territory at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society where he advises and strategizes on corporate partnerships, covering everything from Colorado to the West Coast, including Hawaii and Alaska. He has over 20 years’ experience in the nonprofit sector. Born in Carson City, California, Lustina attended UC Irvine and was very active in cultural heritage organizations.

The Magazine

FilAms Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 83