Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 57

Filipinos have been in the United States since the 16th century, yet many of their stories remain untold. For the past year, 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.

Will Ireton, Shohei Ohtani’s Interpreter

Will Ireton (Source: Discover Nikkei)

Dodger superstar baseball player Shohei Ohtani fired his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, due to an illegal gambling scandal and theft, and replaced hm with 35-year-old Ireton. The son of a Japanese American father and a Spanish Filipina mother, Ireton’s family moved to Hawaii when he was 15 were he played high school baseball at Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu. He moved to California as a scholar-athlete at Occidental College and later transferred to Menlo College where he graduated valedictorian with a Bachelor of Science in International Business Management. He played for the Philippines National Team in the 2012 Asian Cup and the World Business Classic. It was there he worked as a translator for a teammate and the coach of the Philippine National Team, both of whom spoke Japanese. Returning to Los Angeles, Ireton worked with Kenta Maeda, winner of the Eiji Sawamura Award (the Japanese equivalent of the CY Young Award) as an Interpreter. “It’s kind of hard to say exactly what he does because he does so much,” said Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy about Ireton. “He’s one of those key pieces behind the scenes that never gets any credit, even though this whole operation would be tough to run without him.”

Marlo S. Nisperos, Judge

Judge Marlo Nisperos (Source: Twitter)

Nisperos was recently appointed as Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Solano.  Marlo has served as an Administrative Law Judge at the Office of Administrative Hearings since 2019. She was a Sole Practitioner from 2016 to 2019 and a Partner at the Law Offices of Nisperos and Small from 2015 to 2016. Marlo served as a Deputy District Attorney at the Solano County District Attorney’s Office from 2006 to 2015. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. She has also previously served on the Board of NFALA affiliate, the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California. She practiced immigration law and family law in Sacramento.

Stephen and Erica Malbon, founders of Malbon Golf Company

Stephen and Erica Malbon (Source: Golf Digest)

Celebrities like Justin Bieber have visited Malbon Golf, founded in 2017 and located in Fairfax, California. Australian golfer Jason Day moved to Malbon Golf e after a seven-year contract deal with Nike. The company’s vision is to “create cool brands that eschew the tucked-in dorkiness associated with typical apparel in favor of threads inspired by street wear, skate culture, and the runway.” Malbon wants to inspire young people and others who are relegated to the margins to play the sport, and also to give seasoned golfers more fashionable golf wear. Erica, whose parents immigrated from the Philippines when she was only six, already had a links-loving father, so she played the sport. As partners, Erica says, “Stephen understands product from a golfer’s perspective….I look at things aesthetically, and he looks at things technically. We have a yin and yang.”

Malbon has produced clothing lines with sporting giants such as Nike, Puma, and ECCO. The company launched a series of collaborative collections with DOCKERS for two-capsule collections, AKILA for heritage and athletic golf eyewear pieces, Spyder Team for a limited edition for rainy climates and materials in partnerships with GORE-TEX, Nike for the release of four colorways of the convertible jacket, and a head-to-toe collection with WIND AND SEA. For the 2024 Bing Crosby Clambake, Malbon partnered with Adidas for a limited Crosby-inspired golf apparel and shoe release. “The iconic Crosby Clambake was a perfect celebration of the timeless connection between style, sport and camaraderie that reflects our brand’s ethos,” Malbon stated.

Jeffrey Lo, Playwright and Director

Jeffrey Lo (Source: SF Playhouse)

Lo is a Filipino American playwright and director based in the Bay Area. He is the recipient of the Leigh Weimers Emerging Artist Award, the Emerging Artist Laureate by Arts Council Silicon Valley, and Theatre Bay Area Director's TITAN Award. Selected directing credits include Little Shop of Horrors, Chinglish, The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin and Hold These Truths, Vietgone and The Great Leap, A Doll’s House, Part 2 and Eurydice and The Grapes of Wrath, The Crucible, and Yellow Face. His plays have been produced and workshopped at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, BindleStiff Studio, City Lights Theatre Company, and Stanford University. His play Writing Fragments Home was a finalist for the Bay Area Playwright's Conference and a semi-finalist for the O'Neill Playwright's Conference. Lo has also worked with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Asian American International Film Festival, San Jose Repertory, and is a company member of Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company and SF Playground. His short play Brendan’s Damn Good Day was adapted to a short film which was selected for the Manchester Lift-Off Film Festival and the Black Cat International Film Festival in Bolivia. Lo also works as an educator and advocate for issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion and has served as a grant panelist for the Zellerbach Family Foundation, Silicon Valley Creates, and Theatre Bay Area. He is the Associate Producer of Casting and Literary Manager at the Tony Award-Winning TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Lo is a graduate of the Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute and a proud alumnus of the UC Irvine Drama Department.

Mika Domingo, lawyer

Mika Domingo (Source: M.S. Domingo Law Group, P.C.)

Domingo is the founder and managing attorney at M.S. Domingo Law Group, P.C. which handles estate planning, probates, and trust litigations. She is a Certified Mentor and Podcast Host. She also served as Adjunct Professor at Alliant University from 2019-2023 and at John F. Kennedy University from 2017-2020. From 2013-2014, Domingo worked with the deputy Attorney General as a graduate legal assistant.  In January 1013, Domingo started her tenure as president of California Women Lawyers (CWL), the first time a Filipina has headed the organization since its founding in 1974. She said, “I have looked up to many strong women in my life, and I know how important it can be to see someone who looks like you in leadership positions.” Domingo wants to advance women in the legal profession and eliminate inequality in the field.

Jim Harvey Sy, NASDAQ Advisor

Jim Harvey Sy (Source: Facebook)

Sy is a Senior Director in Nasdaq’ Corporate Advisory Services group. He has been with Nasdaq for over a decade via the Thomson Reuters acquisition of its corporate group business. During his 14+ years with Nasdaq, Sy has advised many senior executives at companies of all sizes on issues ranging from investor risks and equity offerings to valuation. His industry-specific experience has allowed him to personally work with over 100 corporate clients, including companies such as DuPont, Dow Chemical, Alcoa, Alcan, International Paper, Georgia Pacific, and Monsanto, just to name a few. Sy also supported the conceptual development and opening of Manila Bowl, a Filipino eatery located within The Market in San Francisco. Moreover, Sy currently serves as a board member of the Metaplastic Global Breast Cancer Alliance. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations: Political Economy and Development from Brown University.

Esabella Gerardo, Youth Artist

Esabella Gerardo (Source: LinkedIn)

Gerardo, better known as Esa, was born and raised in Los Angeles. She has been immersed in various art forms from a young age—music, theater, graphic design, and now primarily visual arts. Her preferred mediums include collage, painting, and printing. Her art style reflects her fixation on color, shapes, abstraction, and patterns. Gerardo has worked with and been taught by many professional artists and is currently an intern at Self-Help Graphics & Art in East Los Angeles and Inner-City Arts in Downtown Los Angeles. Her first solo art exhibition, Kapuso, took place on March 4, 2024 through the IB Visual Arts Program at Center for the Arts Eagle Rock. The exhibit consisted of eight pieces made of collage, photography, and interactive sculpture. “Being Filipino has never been something that I’ve thought about until recently, when I gained a sort of consciousness about how it affected the way I grew up, leading up to now. Getting older meant grasping for a tangible, sure piece of my identity, and I found it in my Filipino culture. Kapuso is a Tagalog word that roughly translates to ‘of the same heart,’ and my show depicts pieces prompted by moments of my Filipino-American experience that are personal to me….Warm colors in my pieces connote familiarity, and reflect the comfort and warmth I feel when I am most Filipino — to me this means doing things that were taught to me by my family and participating in traditions that were brought from the Philippines to America….however, the loud, busy quality of my pieces, and the vast amount of images that I use, reflect times when I've felt lost and disconnected from my Filipino identity….It was important to me that I showcase things that the average Filipino might experience on an everyday scale.” Gerardo hopes that her art reaches the people it needs to; she hopes that her art helps a new generation of Filipinos feel represented in a way that is familiar and proud.

Sini-Gang, Improv Comedy Podcasters

Sini-Gang

The Sini-Gang are Pinoys depicting a slice of Filipino American life in Virginia Beach, Virginia in a weekly, light-hearted podcast. “We discuss anything and everything, and we call ‘em as we see ‘em through our Filipino American eyes. Don’t take us too seriously though, we don’t.” The team is comprised of UCB house team performers from Harold and Mess Hall who perform regularly at Asian AF Presents.

Mary Anne Baysac, Dentist

Dr. Mary Anne Baysac (Source: San Francisco Dental Care)

Born and raised in San Francisco, Baysac graduated from UC Davis with a degree in biology, a master’s in Public Health from Boston University, and a doctorate in dental surgery from UC San Francisco. She did her residency in Los Angeles, earning a certificate of general practice residency through the Veteran Affairs Los Angeles Health Care system. She has prioritized continuing education and volunteerism and has traveled to North Korea administering vaccines, providing urgent dental care to remote and under-resourced populations in Nicaragua, Monrovia and Honduras. In San Francisco, she performs free dental screenings at UCSF and works as a dental volunteer at the Jewish Aged for the Elderly dental clinic. Her research on oral cancer was published in The Journal of Cancer Education. She is the dentist and owner of San Francisco Dental Care.

Rodel Gonzalez, Disney Painter

Rodel Gonzalez (Source: Park West Gallery)

Gonzalez is an artist of inspirational talents with a keen eye for seeing the beauty in the commonplace and grace in the ordinary. He was initiated into the art business through the tutelage of his father, Rick Gonzalez, and grandfather, Felix Gonzalez, at the age of 9.  “Growing up my father would always tell me to not be intimidated by the paint and be 100 percent sure about my intentions on my first stroke at the canvas” says Gonzalez.  His explorations of color, form, and composition ignited a lifelong passion for the arts in its many forms. He studied at the University of Santo Tomas, with a major in painting and went on to earn a degree in Interior Design from the Philippines School of Interior Design. His artistry in music became evident, and at 20 he founded the band Side A in the Philippines. The band is still active today and is currently the longest-lived band in Manila. Gonzalez was the lead singer and the band's most prolific songwriter. In 1994, he embarked on a new journey. His talents were manifested as a minister in the service of others. Although busy with his official duties, he maintained his connection with art by doing commissioned portraits, murals, and sketches for friends and acquaintances. When asked about his latest works for the Disney Fine Art portfolio, Gonzalez said, “Having the opportunity to create Disney paintings is such a treat because Disney was definitely part of my childhood. I remember watching my first Disney films Bambi and Snow White and ever since I've been mesmerized by the succeeding Disney movies I've seen.  I believe a painting is a mirror of the painter's understanding of an insight he has.  The Disney paintings each involved such a strong concept that every brushstroke was a joyful anticipation of the finished product. The energy was very strong therefore my intentions were sure and refined. I would say that there was a lot of grace present on every painting”.

Source: Google and Wikipedia

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