Mia is a development worker leveraging her expertise in community management and engagement, knowledge management, and research to bridge support to young people, creatives, and social entrepreneurs. As an Innovator for the Public, she maps out how changemaking and social innovation is perceived across the Philippines in order to champion innovative individuals who are solving social issues with an eye towards systemic change to the global lifetime Ashoka Fellowship.Mia’s profound interest in research and storytelling was shaped by her thirteen-year experience as an award-winning campus journalist. However, her drive to translate these stories into tangible actions was ignited by her initial foray into community development. During her sophomore year at university, she led an investigative study on the water crisis affecting a barangay in her hometown, Angeles City. She and her peers successfully lobbied for their paper to be transformed into a community project, collaborating with her alma mater and the local government to launch an environmental campaign focused on waste and water management.This exposure led Mia to fully pursue social development. Since then, she has served as the Internal Policy Head and the Social Media Head of The Initiative PH, a national youth-led organization that empowers Filipino communities facing poverty and exclusion. She was also one of the pioneering movers of the Central Luzon hub of the Consortium on Democracy and Disinformation, a nationwide network of journalists, academics, bloggers, and civil society representatives in the Philippines. At the height of the pandemic, she co-led a series of anti-disinformation workshops and a regional voter’s education conference ahead of the 2022 national elections, which were attended by 1000+ students and professionals online.Driven by her love for pop culture, co-creating and consuming fanworks, and engaging in fan communities, Mia co-founded Cromer Net, an online fan-run network that celebrates writing fanfiction as a collaborative endeavor among fans from diverse cultural backgrounds. This initiative has further spurred her interest in fostering safe spaces online where communities can unleash their creativity, collaborate, and feel a sense of belonging.Outside of her professional work, Mia enjoys geeking out about J-pop, K-pop, and anime. She loves making decoden and sharing her kitsch creations with friends.
