2019 Alumni

Eileen has always pursued opportunities to aid her local community. She served as president of the University of Guam Alumni Association and Rotary-sponsored service leadership organization, Rotaract Club of the Marianas, where she led members to help raise funds for Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts in Manila. Rotaract was able to purchase relief goods and medium-sized boats for fishermen to regain their livelihood and continue supporting their families.

As a result of her career and service achievements, Eileen was recognized in 2014 as one of Guam Business Magazine’s 40 leading professionals under the age of 40, nominated for the Filipino Community of Guam’s Gawad Ulirang Pilipino Award for Corporate, Economic and Entrepreneurial Leadership in 2015, and received the Gawad Ulirang Pilipino Award for Family Volunteerism with her mother in 2016.

In his professional life, he is employed at Cooney & Conway, a plaintiff’s personal injury firm based in Chicago that proudly serves clients who seek assistance when finding themselves at the most vulnerable time of their lives. He continues to grow by aspiring to complete his legal education and one day represent those who need an advocate. Everett continually strives to build strong and positive relationships through his work in his professional and community organizing by involving people from different groups, ages, and backgrounds by emphasizing the importance of educating, engaging, and empowering so change can be met with action. In his free time, Everett enjoys spending his time outdoors and participating in various physically healthy activities.

This past year, Joyce assisted in expanding Maryland laws on possession of child pornography. She hopes to bring this passion and leadership to produce meaningful change and progress to combat the sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines. Joyce is an alumna of George Washington University, American University: Women & Politics Institute, and the David A. Clarke School of Law.

Dr. Moya completed his neurology residency at New York - Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in neuroscience at UCLA, he traveled to the Philippines on a Fulbright Fellowship with a focus on telemedicine and acute stroke units. He completed his medical school training at UCSF as a PRIME-US Scholar, master’s of public health training from the Harvard School of Public Health, and has pursued his research interests in stroke and public health throughout both residency and fellowship.

Dr. Moya is particularly interested in improving health systems in resource-poor areas of the United States, the Philippines, and other Asian countries. He continues to advocate for improved physical and mental health for Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants and their communities in the U.S. and the Philippines. Antonio is also passionate about music, learning languages, and storytelling as powerful tools for healing.

As a 2015 Second City Chicago Bob Curry Fellow, he has become the living embodiment of his ancestors’ wildest dreams. He has understudied Second City Main Stages (A Red Line Runs Through It) and holds stand-up credits in the NBC Breakout Comedy Festival, CBS’s Diversity Showcase, and was a Featured Poet in Fifth Star Honors: A Night Dedicated to the Artists of Chicago at Pritzker Pavillion on behalf of Mayor Rahm Emmanuel. His television credits include a guest spot in EMPIRE on FOX and a special guest spot on CNNPhilippines in promotion of Manila Improv Festival in 2017.

TJ was the first Filipino-American Diversity and Inclusion Facilitator for Second City’s Business to Business Department SCWorks, was awarded the Jim Zulevic Award for Community Excellence and became the first Filipino-American faculty member of The Second City Training Center as well as the first Filipino-American faculty member of the historical Annoyance Theater and iO Improv Olympic Theater. In 2016, TJ co-founded and served as Artistic Director of the World Famous Improvised-Spoken Word Collective PREACH, where he has performed at festivals and taught workshops with universities and theaters across the US and in the Philippines. 

He continues to use his platform to serve and advance underserved communities as a creative consultant to community organizations including but not limited to: the Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO) as Board Member and COVID-19 Task Force Member, the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C, and the Philippine American Foundation for Charities (PAFC). His most recent collaboration, in partnership with TaxWhiz Mon Abrea and the Asian Consulting Group, resulted in the release of the TaxWhiz App – a mobile all-in-one application tailored for the Philippine market to make taxes easily understandable, accessible, and convenient to do on the go.

At the heart of TJ’s creative profession is being a teaching artist. While in Chicago he was a teaching artist for the American Theater Company, Mudlark Children’s Theater Company, The Poetry Center of Chicago, Chicago Improv Productions, Silk Road Rising Theater, Theater Unspeakable, and collaborate with After School Matters on numerous programs and events geared towards Youth Advocacy and Mentorship. In his return to Arkansas, he has collaborated with UALR’S Children’s International Program and became the first Filipino faculty member for The Arkansas Repertory Theater.

Philjay currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Philippine American Mainstream Advocacy for Non-Partisan Associations, Inc. (PAMANA) where he has contributed to their annual Philippine Independence Day celebrations and Filipinx-American High School Leadership Workshop.

Additionally, Philjay serves as Massachusetts Vice Chair and EPYC Coach for the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA), volunteers for the Massachusetts Youth Leadership Foundation, and was recently appointed to his hometown's Human Rights Commission. Philjay aspires to develop the next generation of young Filipinx-Americans leaders and lives by the saying, "Be the change you want to see in the world”.

Mr. Valencia was a Business Incubation Manager at Cisco’s Emerging Technologies Group, a Senior Systems Engineer at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems in Los Angeles, and worked in VC firms H&Q Asia Pacific in Manila as well as Investor Growth Capital in Menlo Park. He is a member of the Science and Technology Advisory Council and co-founded both QBO and IdeaSpace Foundation, in his passion to contribute to the Philippine start-up ecosystem.

Earl obtained a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Summa Cum Laude, from Boston University, a master’s degree in Systems Engineering from Cornell University and a M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Mr. Zagala is also the CEO and Project Lead of the mobile app Bay Area Casual Carpoolers, known as BACC. Despite the challenges of developing a start-up in a crowded marketplace, BACC has a gained a small, but growing market share and is rising in registered users through the efforts of a dedicated grassroots, word-of-mouth community of daily active users despite minimal marketing spend. Kevin graduated summa cum laude from UMT Arlington Virginia and is a member of the Delta Epsilon Tau Honor Society. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, video games, reading and spending time with his family.