INTERNS

Youth Events Intern

Alex Fernandez is
not good with writing bios. A lifelong
student, Alex is currently completing
a year of service with AmeriCorps
as an after-school tutor in East Oakland
where he is most commonly
known as Mr. Alex.
Years ago–in 2009–Alex
received his BA in Ethnic Studies
from the University of California,
Sandy Eggo with a minor in
English Literature.
He also holds interests in the intersections
of Jessica Hagedorn, Bruce Lee,
Otis Spunkmeyer cookies, Avatar Aang, Filipinos in Guam, Saul Williams
and the Rubik’s Cube.
Mr. Alex is also an alumnus of
the VONA Voices Summer Writing
Workshop, where he learned to
always be concerned with
kitchen table politics.

Media Intern

Janice Sapigao is a Pinay poet living in San Jose, CA. As the daughter of Ilocano parents, she fulfilled one aspect
of her family’s “someday…” dreams
when she graduated from UC San Diego
with a B.A. in Ethnic Studies
and a minor in Urban Studies
& Planning. She is living out the
post-grad hustle as a tutor to
high school students in East Palo Alto, CA
and as a creative writing instructor
with Lekha Publishers.
Her writings have been published
in Maganda Magazine and in
“Poems of Solidarity for Haiti”
by In Motion Magazine.
Her work will also be featured
in the Spring 2011 issue of
Urban Confustions Journal.
She enjoys stuffed animals,
green tea, reading and meeting
other artists who are
passionate about social justice
and arts education. She will be writing
towards her M.F.A. in Critical Studies
Writing at CalArts.

Youth Events & Media Intern

Christopher Datiles has yet to submit his bio because
he is busy saving the world with
Maui Onion chips and his
Ethnic Honors Thesis on the
ideological shift in Filipina/o American
student organizing at the
University of California, San Diego.
Let’s send him good vibes and
hope that he is able to add on
his bio in his own words sometime soon.

Research Intern

Trishia Salindong is a
fourth-year undergraduate
at the University of California,
Berkeley. She is double-majoring
in Legal Studies and ISF:
International Human Rights
and Economic Geography
and is somewhat terrified of
graduating in May, but ultimately
hoping for the best. She was on
staff for Maganda Magazine as
Historian and as part of the PR
& Marketing Team and is currently
facilitating a seminar on Introductory
Philippine History under the
DeCal program at Berkeley.
Her passion for Philippine History
and Literature stems from the
stories her relatives and grandparents
shared with her during her trips
back to the Philippines over the years.
Favorite Filipino writers include
Nick Joaquin, F. Sionil Jose,
Ambeth Ocampo and Conrado de Quiros. Trishia was also published in the
Youngblood section of the
Philippine Daily Inquirer many years ago,
but has taken a semi-hiatus
from creative writing as she has been
struggling with the unfortunate
condition known as Writer’s Block.
She intends to remedy this as soon as
she conquers her fear of the empty
white rectangle on Microsoft Word.

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