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.