WE ARE THE FILIPINA WOMEN'S NETWORK- Member Spotlight: Tessa Yutadco (Global FWN100™ '15) and Edith Mijares Ardiente (U.S. FWN100™ '07)

Tessa Yutadco is the founder and CEO of My Prime, a skin care line she launched in 2012.  My Prime is the first brand to introduce Pili oil, which is native to the Philippines, to the U.S. skin care market.  Having grown up in the Philippines until she was 16, Tessa is passionate about leveraging My Prime to give back to the Philippines.  In this regard, My Prime's corporate social responsibility focuses on programs in the Bicol region of the Philippines intended to create a sustainable source of income for the Filipino farmers who harvest the Pili fruit and the women who extract the Pili oil from the fruit.  Tessa has found these corporate social responsibility programs to be the most challenging, yet most rewarding, aspect of her work.

As the "face" of My Prime, Tessa has had to build and maintain her own "personal brand."  She has done so through all types of social media, public relations, blogging, networking and participating in charitable events in the U.S. and the Philippines.  Tessa has been a guest blogger on Maria Shriver's blog, and My Prime is a sponsor of Best Buddies International, the Ian Somerhalder Foundation's Causemetics and Dermstore's Best Cancer Awareness Month Beauty for a Cause.

Prior to founding My Prime, Tessa was an employment attorney in San Diego.  Tessa earned a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University, a J.D. from the University of Washington and an L.L.M. from the George Washington University.   

Edith Mijares Ardiente is Vice President, Environmental and Energy Affairs of Chicago-based Navistar, Inc. (NYSE: NAV), one of the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial and military trucks, diesel engines, school and commercial buses and recreational vehicles. She was elected to this position in May 2000, after serving as director of environmental affairs since 1991.

She is responsible for establishing corporate environmental policies and guidelines and providing technical and regulatory assistance to all Navistar locations and operations. Under Ms. Ardiente’s leadership, the company has been recognized for its environmental excellence and leadership as evidenced by over 100 environmental and energy awards received by the company for its operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.

Ms. Ardiente received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering, valedictorian, magna cum laude from the University of San Agustin in the Philippines. In college, she was a full university academic scholar and a Philippine National Science Development Board scholar. She received her M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She is a registered professional engineer (PE) and a qualified environmental professional (QEP). She was President of the Air and Waste Management Association in 2005. Ms. Ardiente has received numerous technical and civic awards, most recently an award from the President of the Republic of the Philippines for environmental excellence and community leadership.

WE ARE THE FILIPINA WOMEN'S NETWORK: Member Spotlight: Zenei Cortez (Global FWN100™ '14) and Catherine Salceda Ileto (Global FWN100™ '15)

Zenei Triunfo Cortez, president of the California Nurses Association/National Nurse Organizing Committee, is one of 15 fierce women profiled in the "15 APA Women Leader Spotlights Campaign" endorsed by the Filipino Advocates for Justice (FAJ).

Zenei is the first Filipino to be elected president of the California Nurses Association/National Nurse Organizing Committee, with 75,000 members in 40 states, and represents nurses at scores of hospitals, clinics, and home health agencies. She served on CNA’s State Board of Directors and was past vice-president. The CAN/NNOC is a health care union that is predominantly female. They have been a voice for nurses in the workplace but played a national role in winning health coverage for everyone. Zenei is an immigrant and a cancer survivor which informs her passion for social justice.  Her involvement in the union began with her own experience fighting discrimination on the job. Since winning that grievance she dedicated herself to encouraging fellow RNs to speak up for their rights.  The CNA is on the forefront of patients’ rights advocacy having won battles to lower the nurse/patient ratios to insure quality of care.

Cathy Ileto is no stranger to the IT-BPM industry in the Philippines. She was part of the original Team 2010 when the industry’s umbrella organization BPAP (Business Processing Association of the Philippines) was established.

As BPAP's Executive Director for Marketing, Cathy initiated international sell and public relations initiatives that included the launch of the Philippine BPO brand, the BPAP Roadmap 2010, the first trade mission to Australia which brought Australia-launched locators to the Philippines; the first mission to CeBIT Australia, World BPO Forum in New York, and the National Outsourcing Association Conference and Expo in London that produced several "Offshoring of the Year" Awards for the Philippines. Cathy also closed partnerships with key international IT/BPO organizations across the world including NASSCOM of India.

Her passion in championing the Philippine IT BPM industry is unparalleled. Testament to this is a recognition she received from the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry in 2008, for all the initiatives she has launched to promote the Philippines as a Center of Excellence in Outsourcing.

Many of today’s key players in the IT-BPM industry in the Philippines is a significant result of Cathy's leadership.
 

WE ARE THE FILIPINA WOMEN'S NETWORK Member Spotlight: WELCOME new FWN Board Member Amar Bornkamp (Global FWN100™ '15) and Malu Rivera Peoples (U.S. FWN100™ '07)

Warm welcome to new FWN Board Member & VP Membership, Amar Bornkamp.

Amar  is a Senior Team Manager in Operations Control at Charles Schwab.   Amar has been with Schwab for a total of 21 ½ years, and in her tenure has led teams in Corporate Actions, Cash Control, and Access & Entitlements.  She currently manages a team in Orlando, Phoenix, and India, that manages oversight and controls over firm applications/systems in order to prevent employee fraud and protect clients and firm assets.  She majored in Business Administration and has over 30 years of experience in the financial industry.

She is passionate about developing others to their full potential and helping them advance in their careers.  As a co-chairperson of the Asian Pacific Islander Network at Schwab (APINS), she coordinates and puts together career development events that focus on how to overcome issues and challenges Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders face in the work force.  In putting together these events she’s worked with other companies and Asian non-profit organizations like Ascend and FWN. 

She also serves on the School Board of St. Bede Catholic School in Hayward and is the chairperson of their Enrollment Committee.  As a member of the St. Bede parish she has been teaching catechism for almost 15 years.  She teaches 3rd and 4th grade parishioners who are preparing to do their First Reconciliation and receive their First Communion.  As a catechist, she’s not only giving back to the church and community, but also living out her childhood dream of being a teacher.

Amar has two sons, and when she’s not spending time with her husband and two boys, she enjoys spending time with her extended family, reading, watching movies, and planning events and parties.  She’s also a big sports fan and a big fan of the SF Giants, SF 49ers, and Golden State Warriors.  

If you have questions about your FWN Membership or to join FWN, Amar is your main contact. Say hello to her at amarb@ffwn.org.

Malu Rivera Peoples has been a FWN member since 2007.

Malu took her first ballet class at the late age of 10 under the tutelage of Felicitas Radaic, Luis Layag and Steve Villaruz.  At age 16, she began a professional career as principal dancer of Dance Theater Philippines. She has worked with national and international figures such as Gener Caringal, Kenneth Gillespie, Armin Wilde, Norman Walker, Luminita Dumitrescu, William Morgan, Alfred Rodriguez, Gray Veredon, and Mikael Kukarev.  Among the popular classics, she performed solo roles in the full-length productions of Swan Lake, Giselle, Don Quixote, Nutcracker, Cinderella, Les Sylphides, and Romeo & Juliet.

She became a member of the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD, London) at age 16, qualifying her to prepare children for the annual RAD Children’s Examinations; the same examinations she passed with flying colors as a student.  At 19, while she was dancing for Ballet Philippines, she opened her own school, the Silid-Sining Workshop for the Performing Arts in Manila, which continues to operate to this date.  In 1983, Malu migrated to the United States and by the summer of 1991, she co-founded the Westlake School for the Performing Arts (WSPA) in Daly City.

In her 20 years as WSPA school and artistic director, Malu has been recognized as a choreographer, receiving several Outstanding Choreography Awards for modern, ballet, lyrical jazz, and musicals.  She was awarded the “Outstanding Choreographer” at the Youth America Grand Prix Long Beach Regional in 2004 and 2006.  She stages the full-length ballet, The Nutcracker, each year at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. The school received  YAGP’s “The Outstanding School” Award in 2004 and 2010 and garners top awards for their ensemble works every year in major dance competitions such as Showstoppers Dance Championships, the International Dance Challenge, Spotlight Dance Cup and the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix.