Meet KUBO-OP's Team!
Our Mission: KUBO Organizing Project aims to inspire the Filipinx residents in Southern California through intergenerational programming, civic engagement, and promote equity based on our 2 Core Pillars; cultural enrichment and community assessment & leadership development. Our advisory team is an incredible group of FIlipinx cultural practitioners, industry professionals, and thought leaders, who guide us for stategic planning and overall direction of our mission.
KUBO OP Advisory Team
Romeo Garcia - Executive Director, Strategic Planning, Grant Development, Partnerships, & Advisory Team Liaison (he/him/siya)
Romeo Garcia (he/him/siya) has more than 20+ years in nonprofit, higher education, and social enterprise advocating for first generation youth & students, LGBTQ+, recently arrived Filipinx immigrants, intergenerational programming, grant writing, and community development. Romeo is also a Certified Master Chocolatier with training in Belgium, & researched equitable fair trade and direct trade supply chains with cacao farmers in Costa Rica, Ecuador, and the Philippines. He owned and operated the award-winning @romeochocolates for 8 years, and has transitioned to support other local BIPOC entrepreneurs in developing their small businesses and co-founding @kubo.lb as a social enterprise retail and community space. KUBO OP is the nonprofit kapatid/ sibling to give back to our local community and creates space to build visibility & solidarity.
By day, he serves as a college Student Services educator. Romeo is completing his doctorate program in Educational Leadership at CSU Fullerton; earned a Masters in Equity & Social Justice in Education at San Francisco State U., and earned a Bachelors in Asian American Studies with a Minor in Black Studies to address community self-determination, resilience, and liberation movements throughout the world. In his spare time, he enjoys horticulture and heritage gardening with his partner, taking care of chickens and their rescue puppy “Wally”and finding food & culture hotspots around town.
Jazlynn Pastor - Project Coordinator (she/they)
Jesse Ocampo, MA - Filipinx Health Equity Coordinator (she/her)
Hello I am Jesse!
I am a dancer, dance educator, social media specialist, and recently received my Master's degree in applied anthropology with a focus in critical medical anthropology and embodied DEI facilitation from California State University Puvungna (Long Beach). In my most recent work, I was able to curate and co-facilitate a somatic training for the university's Student Health Services staff, to teach compassion resiliency and social empathy to healthcare professionals combatting post COVID-19 compassion fatigue. My passion for providing accessible holistic healing to our healthcare workers was inspired by my family members and all of the Filipinx community of healthcare workers that experience health disparities from systemic violences in the medical system, and I hope to continue this research in the near future. I also run my own social media agency Reel Co. SMM that advocates for decolonizing digital spaces! I partner with BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+, and Women owned businesses, artists, and holistic healers to build sustainable Instagram communities to support the shift towards small businesses and away from unethical big businesses. I have worked with the Long Beach Filipinx community through my affiliation with CSULB's Pilipino American Coalition, as the Artistic Coordinator for the org's Hip Hop Dance Troupe, PAC Modern. And I am so excited to continue my passion for health equity, cultural visibility, and the arts with Kubo Organizing Project!
Community Advisory Board for Filipinx Health Equity
Liza Gesuden (she/her/siya)
Liza has been an educator for over 20 years, teaching Ethnic Studies, English, and Social Studies in schools across the Bay Area and Los Angeles. She is currently a Leadership & Ethnic Studies teacher at Jefferson Middle School in Long Beach, CA, where she advises the gardening club to bring young people closer to the land. She has worked within and beyond the Filipinx community as a community and cultural organizer via PEP San Francisco, the Free Minds Free People Conference, and other organizations. She is a certified Breathe 4 Change Yoga instructor and teaches trauma-informed, accessible movement classes to diverse communities. She also makes up one half of @ginataangang , a Pinay duo dedicated to gardening and growing in Long Beach, CA
Dianne Que (she/her/siya)
Dianne Que is a Design Operations Director in the tech industry, with professional roots in non-profit arts and creative agencies. She studied Political Science and Ethnic Studies at UC San Diego and has an MBA in Design Strategy from California College of the Arts. She has been involved in the Filipinx community for over 20 years across the Bay Area, San Diego, Los Angeles, and the Philippines as a cultural organizer, and more recently a publisher of the Filipino Instant Pot Cookbook and Tagalog Activities for Kids: My Family and Home. She also makes up one half of ginataan gang, a Pinay duo dedicated to gardening and growing in Long Beach, CA.
Jason Lacsamana (he/him/siya)
Jason Lacsamana is the Director of the St. Joseph Community Partnership Fund, a strategic grantmaking foundation with investments across the Western United States. In this role, Jason designs, implements, and supervises innovative initiatives that will positively impact health, with the ultimate aim of equity and justice in communities. With 25+ years in both the nonprofit and philanthropic fields, Jason has been dedicated to efforts that build community power, allowing organizations, neighborhoods, and diverse partnerships to become more stable, self-sustaining, and better advocates. A graduate of UCLA with a Master's in Public Health, Jason has been recognized as Health Educator of the Year by the Society of Public Health Educators and was recipient of the CAHRO Civil Rights Leadership Award. Currently serving on the Boards of Prevention Institute and Charitable Ventures, he recently completed terms as Chairperson of Orange County Grantmakers and as the Chair of the Advisory Board of PBS SoCal/KCET. Above all, Jason treasures his family time - enjoying great culinary delights and travel adventures together. Away from home, you’re sure to spot him at a 90s R&B concert or LA Galaxy soccer match.
Anne Esperanzate (she/her/siya)
As a WOC and undocumented dreamer, Anne Esperanzate is a pioneer in her less traveled path. She faced many obstacles & closed doors, but always persevered to fulfill her purpose: to be of light and service to others. A first-generation immigrant, Anne is the first in her family to earn an MS in Child Life from the U. of La Verne; BA in Child Development; BA in Family Life Education from CSULB. Anne found the passion in amplifying the energy of those who've had their own lights dimmed from adversities. As an Intuitive Energy Healer, Anne’s mission is to help others step into their own light, & rediscover their true souls and purpose in life. As a Reiki Master, Sound Healer, Spiritual Life Coach, and Child Life Specialist, she creates a space, opportunities, and communities where people feel empowered to break away from old-limiting beliefs and patterns; & heal ancestral, generational, cultural, and systemic wounds; and redesign their lives with their own intentions. She continues to give back to the community by collaborating with children’s hospitals and donating alternative & holistic healing services to pediatric patients and their families. Anne is empowered to speak and live in her own truth, and she hopes to inspire others in the same philosophy through her work.
Her family comes from the Ilocos Norte region in the Philippines, but Anne was born and raised in Rome, Italy. She is trilingual in Italian, Tagalog, English, and can understand some Ilokano.
Anne enjoys grounding + bathing in the earth, water, sun, and moon; spending quality time with friends & family; and simply being present in time.
Therese Miu (she /her/ siya)
Therese Miu is an expert community builder, leadership coach, and is a recognized expert on leadership and social entrepreneurship dedicated to activating individuals and organizations to lead change in the world.
She has powerful combination of wellness, organizational development, marketing, event, and non-profit expertise as a result of over 15 years of passionate commitment to building brands and helping corporations and organizations maximize their potential. As the Founder of @firedashmedia for 9 years her passion is supporting women in their personal and professional development. Therese has a 15+ year track record as a mentor, coach, speaker and facilitator promoting diversity, equity, + inclusion; community engagement; and the leadership of women. When not working with individual coaching clients or facilitating a retreat, she can be found working with corporations as a speaker, workshop facilitator, or leading a customized leadership development program. She understand the demands of work, life, and health. Grounded in the philosophy that small changes make big differences, She is the Founder of @risingfilipinas --her overall vision is to create lasting opportunities for women and diverse leaders to emerge across various ecosystems and to help build legacies with significant impact that lasts for generations. She is a parent to three adventurous, curious humans and partner to her better half. To feed her creativity she travels, explores food markets, dances in the kitchen, cooks, and (most importantly) eats.
Harold Dela Cruz (he/ him/ siya)
Harold Dela Cruz is a community organizer by day and a hip hop practitioner by night from the Westside of Long Beach, CA. He received a bachelor of arts degree in Urban Studies and Planning from the University of California, San Diego where he discovered a passion for fighting for justice in the world. He has a wide-range of artistic experience from teaching dance to low-income seniors and homeless youth, to directing Ascension Hip Hop Dance Team from 2013-2015, to DJing for various non-profits throughout California over the past few years. He has trained as a community organizing fellow with Tramutola to pass the soda tax in San Francisco in 2016 and continued his organizing career training low-income parents to build political power and fight for an equitable education for their children in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Harold has been involved with the Long Beach Filipino Festival, the Long Beach Parol Lantern Festival, and is the Vice Chair of the board of directors for Public Health Advocates. He now continues to serve his community in Long Beach as the Filipino, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Health Equity Coordinator for the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services.