Tayo’s impact everyday, everywhere all at once
In a jam packed week last week that included back to back conferences for FYLPRO's Tayo team, the icing on the cake was the convention I've attended every year since I was a student in 2002 - Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA). (That 2002 conference was in Dallas where I first met Tom Huang and who is now my colleague at The Dallas Morning News)
After the Tayo team presented in Atlanta at 2025 National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing and Media presented by National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) and Public Health Communications Collaborative, Tayo cofounder Mark Calaguas and I flew to Seattle for this year's AAJA conference.
This year was unique because my term as AAJA VP of Journalism Programs ends in December (Congrats to incoming VP Beena Raghav - excited to pass the torch) and being an AAJA community award recipient.
On Aug 2, Tayo was honored with 2025 AAPI Community Impact Award. This award recognizes journalism and journalists that amplify and make space for the AAPI community, with a special focus on solutions and impact. Other previous winners of this award include: Asian Media Initiative at the CUNY Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and The Very Asian Foundation.
It was great to have my Tayo cofounders Mark and Donny Rojo (who was core to the Tayo origin story) present at the gala for this recognition among my peers. But this would not have been possible without our core leadership team who were there in spirit: Melissa Palma, MD, MPH, Jobel Kyle Vecino, Krystle Canare, Timothy Simba-Medel, Brian Tajo, Joshua Ang Price, Frances Angela (Maher) Rodriguez, Joed Garbo, CHES, Olivia Bragitikos.
Tayo, a project of FYLPRO, is an innovative data hub that empowers Filipinx/a/o communities by collecting data, fostering partnerships, publishing culturally relevant insights, and developing leaders to create an equitable and sustainable future.
Tayo was developed by FYLPRO’s COVID-19 Task Force in the Fall of 2020 in response to the ongoing pandemic and to tackle the specific needs of Filipinos in the diaspora and back home. It was expanded to encompass info beyond COVID-19.
Today, Tayo has participated and led research projects and studies around mental health, heart health and vaccine hesitancy. In addition, Tayo works to continue to combat misinformation by publishing explainers and fact checks.
Tayo is a member of the Asian American Disinfo Table (anchored by National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), Tiny News Collective and NHLBI’s Healthy Hearts Network.
All this work did not happen overnight. Core to Tayo has always been the interdisciplinary heart of this team. For the last 5 years, we have been meeting nearly every Sunday to do this work and we are just getting started.
None of us imagined that we would be doing things we are doing or the places and spaces it's taken us 5 years later.
For us, Tayo has been a direct line to our being and existence - to help our community.