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Alexis A. David (she/her)Roles: RAMS Peer Counselor Clinical Supervisor; ADUA Filipinx Mental Health Counseling Scholarship Program Coordinator
Languages Spoken: English Affiliations: Kababayan SFUSD Alexis A. David (she/her/siya) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker working in San Francisco Unified School District and has a private practice supporting BIPOC clinicians working towards licensure. Alexis is a daughter of immigrants born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a mother to three brilliant beings. She is an alumni of San Francisco State University for both her Masters in Social Work (MSW) and undergraduate studies in Asian American Studies and Criminal Justice. She received her MSW in 2010 focusing on Social Action and Change with an emphasis on working with youth in foster care. She has worked in various capacities in Education through school social work, teaching Filipinx/a/o Studies, working with youth and families in foster care, substance abuse treatment and prevention, and youth development and organizing. Alexis is one of the founding members of the Filipino Mental Health Initiative-San Francisco (FMHI-SF) in 2012 and believes that promoting mental and community wellness is a part of sustaining oneself in people's movements. |
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Verma Soria Zapanta, M.Ed (she/her)Roles: Youth Mental Health Education Program Coordinator; Mental Health First Aid Instructor
Languages Spoken: English, Basic Tagalog Affiliations: Mental Health First Aid-National Council for Mental Wellbeing; College of Ethnic Studies, Asian American Studies Department-San Francisco State University, Pin@y Educational Partnerships Verma Soria Zapanta is a Visayan educator, photographer, and wellness practitioner born and raised in Yelamu, occupied Ramaytush Ohlone Territory (San Francisco, CA). She has served youth throughout San Francisco and Los Angeles as an Ethnic Studies teacher before fully immersing herself in holistic medicine and mental health advocacy work. She is a Mental Health First Aid instructor and co-founder of Buong Loob: Filipinx Student Wellness Internship and the Filipinx Student Wellbeing Conference: Youth Contingency Internship. Verma is a humble culture bearer and student of Hilot, an ancient healing modality from the Philippines that incorporate bodywork, energy healing, ritual, and plant medicine. She hosts knowledge exchanges, workshops, retreats, and a Filipinx healers pop-up market called Ginhawa Marketplace through her wellness practice "Hilot with Verma". "I connected to FMHI-SF in 2018 through the "Kapwa Konnections" project as a featured artist for the community exhibition and consultant to develop the Kapwa Rising Mural in SOMA Pilipinas, guided by Bay Area artists Sami See and Monica Magtoto. FMHI-SF is beautiful because we can be creative in engaging folks on the complex, complicated, and painful mental health topics, which is very stigmatized in the Filipino community. I hope every community member we engage with feels they have the agency to tend to their mental health needs while finding a community to lean in." |
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Bernadette Sy (she,her)Title: Chief Financial Officer
Affiliations: Filipino-American Development Foundation Languages Spoken: English Bernadette Sy has worked for Filipinos serving nonprofits since 1999. She helped to launch Filipino Mental Health Initiative San Francisco and works with community based mental-health programs at the Bayanihan Community Center. It's vital that a mental health component be a part of all community services serving the Filipino community. Awareness and reducing stigma about mental health in the Filipino community is the first step toward stabilizing families and individuals who struggle with mental illness. Mental health is an important aspect of being and feeling well. Understanding what to do to manage your mood and your outlook on life is a challenge that all people experience sometime in their life. Often times communities can find comfort, strength,and healing amongst each other. This is the basis for community based wellness. |
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Filipino American Development FoundationThe Filipino Mental Health Initiative of San Francisco is a program of FADF, The Filipino American Development Foundation. FADF’s vision provides the necessary support to strengthen and empower Filipino Americans, enabling community hubs to develop resources and assets that can benefit the local and broader community. FADF believes the Filipino cultural value of bayanihan, which means mutual assistance and mutual caring is the catalyst for community self-development and sustainability. FADF exists to strengthen the social, physical, and economic well being of the Filipino American community in the San Francisco Bay Area, with special attention to San Francisco’s South of Market community.
FADF's Mission accomplishes this by: -Increasing community access to a wide range of economic, health and social services through collaboration with existing programs and the development of culturally appropriate services -Providing the Bayanihan Community Center as a space to strengthen community ties, to facilitate the sharing of resources and expertise among service providers in SOMA, and to build leadership skills and the capacity of service providers to effectively provide relevant social services to the community -Empowering Filipino American organizations through fiscal sponsorship and leadership support and guidance -Producing educational and cultural programs/events to engage and celebrate Filipino American culture and community |
WEBSITE
Email: galingbata.fec@gmail.com Instagram: @galingbata Twitter: @galingbata Facebook: Galing Bata |
Filipino Education Center: Galing Bata After School Program (they/them)Affiliations: Filipino-American Development Foundation; SOMA Pilipinas; Bessie Carmichael/Filipino Education Center
Languages Spoken: English, Tagalog FEC GALING BATA PROGRAM provides vital linguistically sensitive and culturally responsive services and resources to the Transitional Kindergarten - 8th Grade students enrolled at Bessie Carmichael/FEC throughout the school year and the summer, to their families, and the community in SOMA Pilipinas, the Filipino Cultural Heritage District in San Francisco. Social-emotional learning, restorative practices and trauma-informed care are embedded in their programming. Their staff are also certified in Mental Health First Aid and are screeners for behavioral health challenges or crises. They are committed to fostering safe spaces through building intentional and trusting relationships with students and families; spaces such as a weekly middle school lunch club to celebrate Filipino culture and identity, enrichment on wellness & resilience for middle school students, weekly parent support group (GB Chikahang Good Vibes), etc. In their efforts to prioritize their students’ wellbeing, they work closely with school-day social workers, make student referrals to community resources for mental health and wellness support, are an active member of the Bessie/FEC Wellness Team and Bessie/FEC Coordinated Care Team, and collaborate with other organizations to address the mental health issues within our community (MHC, FMHI-SF, Incredible Years/Filipino Family Health Initiative, etc). We connected with FMHI-SF through our work at SFUSD with other Filipinx social workers and our work around serving the mental health needs of our students and families. Collaborating with FMHI-SF is an important part of our role as school social workers because they are connected to the community. FMHI-SF supports the community, provides safe spaces (virtually and in-person pre-COVID) for Filipinx to gather, build connections and learn from each other. Mental health is not too different from our physical health; as much as it’s necessary to take care of our physical health, it’s also important to care for our mental wellbeing. In Filipino/Filipino-American communities, mental health is not something that is talked about with families and friends because it’s something that is not physically seen and therefore not understood. This silence is making it more difficult especially for young adolescents to understand their own mental health. The intergenerational silence and stigma around mental health in our Filipino/Filipino-American culture continue to harm our youth and so as educators, mentors, and mental health experts it is our job to destigmatize this narrative of mental health, it is our job to prevent our youth from suicide ideation, and instead foster spaces that build resilience and encourage wellness. |
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Harvey Lozada, MSW, PPSC, ACLSW (he/him)Title: Transition Specialist, Artist, Community Worker
Affiliations: San Francisco County Office of Education; Woodside Learning Center in San Francisco Unified School District; Kababayan SFUSD; Co-founder of Buong Loob: Filipinx Student Wellness Internship & Filipinx Student Wellbeing Conference Youth Contingency Internship Languages Spoken: English, Tagalog Harvey Lozada is a fourth-generation FRISCOPINO. He is an educator, community worker, healer, filmmaker, photographer, and visual storyteller. Harvey is the son of Filipino immigrants from the islands of Luzon and Mindanao and traces his familial roots in Yelamu, occupied Ramaytush Ohlone territory (San Francisco, CA) as far back as the 1920s. He is a humble culture bearer and descendent of traditional medicine keepers such as albularyos and manghihilots from the so-called, Philippines. Harvey’s healing journey began with community activism and engaging young people in the juvenile justice system. For over 18 years, he has dedicated his life to disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline through youth leadership development and culturally responsive counseling services for children and families throughout San Francisco. Harvey currently serves as a Transition Specialist at the San Francisco County Office of Education and Woodside Learning Center in San Francisco Unified School District and co-developed FMHI-SF's Filipinx youth mental health education program, Buong Loob: Filipinx Student Wellness Internship. |
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Jeannie Celestial, PhD, LCSW (she/her)Title: Licensed Clinical Psychologist; Trauma Therapist; Coach; Consultant
Affiliations: Filipino Mental Health Initiative-Solano Languages Spoken: English, Conversational Tagalog Jeannie E. Celestial (she/her/hers) is the youngest of two anak/children of settlers from Cavite & Cebu, Philippines on Guam, Chamorro indigenous land. Her family migrated to Northern California (Ohlone Territory) where she was raised (Vallejo). Passionate about holistic health & well-being, Jeannie serves as a Clinical Psychologist, offering psychotherapy including EMDR, Attachment-Focused EMDR, and somatic embodiment for treating traumatic stress. Jeannie was one of the early core members of FMHI-SF and helped establish its sibling organization, Filipinx Mental Health Initiative-Solano (FMHI-Solano). Jeannie is a daughter, sister, wife, and mother on a journey of decolonization and liberation and is honored to support the others on this path. Jeannie earned her Doctorate in Philosophy in Clinical Psychology at Palo Alto University with an Emphasis in Clinical Neuropsychology and an Emphasis in Meditation and Psychology. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at the University of California at Berkeley in the 1990s, where she was active in Pilipino American Alliance, Maganda Magazine, and Kapwa (which she co-founded). Celestial additionally holds a Master of Social Work degree from San Francisco State University. "FMHI-SF carries the blood of our people and is truly a represent our resiliency and also our most vulnerable. I have been honored to support FMHI-SF through the years. I believe FMHI-SF's and my service as a healer has helped destigmatize therapy and has helped change the culture about help-seeking. We are helping people to be unapologetically healing themselves and our communities. To me, mental health means being at peace and in harmony with yourself, other people, and the world. For a large majority of Filipinx folks, this might also mean being at peace with God, one's ancestors, and nature. We must promote and uplift the importance of mental health and holistic wellness in our community: 1) because we carry the stories of resilience and strength of our ancestors, 2) because it's imperative to practice self- and community care to resist the fallacy of White Supremacy and the Model Minority Myth, and 3) because we are all meant to shine and embody our innate gifts." |
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Dr. JoanMay T. Cordova (she/hers/siya)Title: Social Media/Digital Content Creator at the Filipino Mental Health Initiative-San Francisco; Professor at Silliman University-Dumaguete, Philippines; Professional Consultant in Oral History, Social Media and Nonviolence
Affiliations: Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) National President Emerita and Kingian Nonviolence Coordinating Committee Languages Spoken: English, Filipino Dr. JoanMay T. Cordova’s a professional consultant in social media, oral history, nonviolence, and curriculum. With a Filipino bilingual (K-12) credential from USF and a doctorate from Harvard University, JoanMay’s taught pre-school through doctoral students. Currently a Visiting Professor at Silliman University in Dumaguete Philippines, she's working on a new Human Security Institute with Silliman's Salonga Center for Law and Development. You’ll find her international journeys @ForCommunities on Instagram and Twitter. JoanMay began curating social media @FMHISF in 2017. By promoting FMHISF's orginal community #mentalhealth videos (produced with @sine68fims) @FMHISF engaged local and international groups who all advocate to #EndTheStigmaOnMentalHealth. "Photo by Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon in July, 2018." |
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Dr. Michelle Fortunado-Kewin (she/her/siya)Title: School Social Worker; Clinical Supervisor; Adjunct Assistant Professor; Lecturer
Affiliations: San Francisco Unified School District; University at Buffalo Languages Spoken: English, Basic Tagalog Michelle Fortunado-Kewin (she/her/siya) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and works full-time as Clinical Supervisor and Program Coordinator at San Francisco Unified School District’s School Health Programs Department. She is also part-time Field Faculty Advisor (FFA for Smith College School for Social Work. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in in social work (DSW) at the University of Buffalo with a research focus on suicidality with Filipinx-American youth. I got connected with FMHI-SF through my work at SFUSD with other Filipinx social workers and our work around serving the mental health needs of our students and families. Collaborating with FMHI-SF is an important part of our role as school social workers because they are connected to the community. FMHI-SF supports the community, provides safe spaces (virtually and in-person pre-COVID) for Filipinx to gather, build connections and learn from each other. |