ON MAY 6, 15 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women will be honored as “Champions of Change” by the White House, in observance of AAPI Heritage Month.
“The Champions of Change program was created as an opportunity for the White house to feature groups of Americans – individuals, businesses and organizations – who are doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities,” says a press release from the White House.
Of the 15 women, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President and Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls said: “These fifteen women represent the strength and diversity of the AAPI community. These leaders – in business, advocacy, philanthropy, sports, the arts, and academia – are wonderful examples for young women across the country.”
“As we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this May, we pay tribute to the many AAPI women – from Bernice Pauahi Bishop to Congresswoman Patsy Mink to Sunita Pandya Williams – who have shaped the story of America,” said Tina Tchen, Chief of Staff to the First Lady and Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls.
Among these 15 women are two Filipino-Americans: Myrna Baldonado, “a household worker organizer with the Latino Union of Chicago, is dedicated to improving the working and living conditions of the estimated 2.5 million domestic workers in the United States. A former caregiver herself, she co-founded the multiracial Chicago Coalition of Household Workers to gain dignity and respect for caregivers, housecleaners, and nannies. She speaks nationally for the Caring Across Generations campaign that seeks to transform care in the US and she is a worker leader of the National Domestic Workers Alliance,” says the White House press release.
Baldonado “wants to raise the salary of caregivers, including the grant of overtime pay and vacation leaves for live-in caregivers,” reports Joseph Lariosa for Philstar.com.
Baldonado’s work as a caregiver for the elderly and disabled has opened her eyes to the reality of “unyielding abuse, poor wages and 24-hour shifts.”
These factors mobilized her to take action and become a community leader, organizing domestic workers’ groups. She is also instrumental in bringing the proposed Illinois Domestic Worker Bill of Rights to the Illinois Senate, Philstar.com further reported.
“This award is a milestone in the long journey from invisibility to recognition for domestic workers and an affirmation of the leadership of Asian American women in the US and abroad,” Baldonado said.
Catherine Eusebio from Fremont, CA “is a Social Justice Fellow at Asian American/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, where she manages API Dream Summer, a component of a national internship program that engages partners in community and philanthropy to support the leadership development of immigrant youth. Catherine also serves on the Board of Directors of United We Dream, the largest network of immigrant youth-led organizations. In her words, she ‘she strives to promote change that starts with empowering the most impacted people to lead,’” as described by the White House.
According to Philstar.com, Eusebio “wants to promote change by empowering the youth to lead.” Eusebio said that she “strives to promote change that starts with empowering the most impacted people to lead.”
Two Pinays with lofty intentions for the community truly make their kababayans proud, not just in the US but around the globe.
Extraordinary as these two women may be, what truly makes their work significant and worthwhile is for them to see others become empowered and inspired: younger generations, as their successors, would continue the legacy that they’ve worked so hard and so passionately for.
