A ‘Sisterhood in the Hustle’ Approach to Community Building and Women’s Empowerment
Filipina’s Focus on Healing and Joy in 4th Annual Pinayista Summit
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - September 8, 2021 - Pinayista (pih-nai-ees-tuh), a nonprofit and international community of self-identified “Pinays” (Filipina Women), focuses on themes of healing and decolonizing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing hate crimes against Asian Americans, and the continued climate crisis as fires burn throughout California. The organization relaunched last year with a new name, a global virtual office hosted on Gatherly, and an online membership program in response to shelter in place orders. This year, Pinayista Summit will hold its first ever hybrid program from Friday - Sunday, October 1-3, 2021 with the in-person elements taking place at a fellow Filipina-owned brick and mortar, Ciel Creative Space in Berkeley, California. The weekend is produced by the Make it Mariko event planning company, their brigade of volunteers, and POC digital producers AddVirtual, who have innovated this unique hybrid event model together.
The summit is open to all self-identifying Pinays, transgender Pinays, and gender nonconforming Pinxys who want to learn how to bring their ideas to life, decolonize restorative justice, heal from the “scarcity mindset” instilled by stolen self-narratives, as well as bring their expertise to help others in the community. Attendees can expect panels, lightning talks, interactive workshops, music, spontaneous dancing, and meaningful connections.
“For this year’s Pinayista Summit, I’m excited to honestly just be IN community. This past 18 months has been complicated to say the least. As strong women of color, we naturally try to lean into our strength and resilience to get us through challenging situations like covid and quarantine.” Shared Gina Mariko Rosales, founder of Pinayista. “We know how to survive, yes. But it’s important to recognize when we also need to heal. To rest. To rejuvenate. To be held. My hope for Pinayista Summit this year is that we give ourselves space to find that JOY, HEALING, and COMMUNITY that we all deserve.”
Filipinas on the Rise
Filipinos account for 3.9 million people, the 3rd largest amongst Asian ethnic groups
Filipinos are the 3rd largest growing Asian group in the United States with over 4 million people. California has the largest population of Filipinos with over 1 million. San Francisco has the second largest Filipino population with 305,000, right behind Los Angeles.
The Asian population in the U.S. has tripled in the last three decades
California’s Asian population grew by 25% in the past decade. Becoming the fastest growing ethnic group in the nation’s most populous state
California now has more than 6 million people of Asian descent — more than the total population of most other states.
Asian American women are fast to adopt new technologies, particularly apps that are popular with Millennials, such as Snapchat for social, Venmo for digital wallet and Waze for navigation.
*Carlos Bulosan Center at UC Davis, NBC Asian America (2019); Forbes, (2019); Nielsen, (May 2017); Pew Research Center (2017); Mercury News (2019); Pew Research Center (2019), Migration Policy Institute (July 2020), New York Times (2021), Time Magazine (2021)
“Pinays do not have enough spaces to come together to share experiences or to celebrate triumphs. Many of us, and this is true for me as someone who works in academia, are forced to work in isolation from other Pinays due to long histories of institutional racism that prevent us and other women of color from entering into or thriving in particular professions,” shares Dr. Robyn Rodriguez. “What is great about Pinayista, is that it has a values-driven approach to professional success and entrepreneurship. The aim is not simply to support each other’s personal achievements but to come together around a vision of collective prosperity towards the building of a regenerative economy. The pandemic has taught us--but we as Filipinx people have always known--that this system wasn’t built for us and isn’t sustainable. We are working towards an alternative future.”
A Global Conference for the Filipinx Diaspora
Gina Mariko Rosales, Pinayista founder and former Google X Head of Marketing Events, customized the Gatherly platform last year, constructing a 24/7 open office for Pinays from all over the world to resume social camaraderie in a shared virtual workspace. In conjunction with this platform launch, the organization introduced Pinayista memberships, a program open to all self-identified Pinays who would like to get further involved with the community. Members are granted access to the office space and can explore the Pinayista world built within the platform; whether it is co-working, networking, group dining, happy hour, events, or a desire for support from fellow members, Rosales’ concept has allowed Pinayista to evolve as a global connector to reach new spaces and faces in a way that has never been done before.
When the organization relaunched in May of 2020, they tripled their social media following, and doubled their email subscriber list within a matter of weeks. Their membership program has already acquired over 50 members since launching last week.
Emerging Pinayista Scholarship Program
Sponsored in 2021 by Dr. Robyn Rodriguez in honor of the "Future Dr. Dawn Mabalon", the Emerging Pinayista Scholarship Program recognizes 25 Pinays aspiring to start their own business, creative hustle, or community and who require financial support to attend the Summit in-person or virtually. Pinays in all industries can apply, but at least half of all scholarship slots will be given to Pinays in the fields of mental health, healing, wellness, higher education, and food/chefs in honor of Dr. Dawn Mabalon.
Ticket Info:
In-person tickets range from $85 - $215, with virtual summit tickets ranging from $25 - $80. Individual ticket sponsorships, student and group discounts are also available.
Pinayista Summit 2021 speakers:
Dr. Robyn Rodriguez | Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies
Nina Parks | Gift of Doja
Kim Saira | Social Media Influencer
Sosyal Gal | Writer & Marketer
Dr. Arlene Daul Magbual | Pin@y Educational Partnerships
Pinayista Panel Discussions & Workshops
Between the networking, the learning, and the healing set to take place at this year’s summit, the weekend will also be home to several lightning talks, “sisterhood sessions” and workshops. These topics include:
Pinay Creators Using Our Voice for Change
Raising Ancestors: Centering Parenting in the Hustle
The Business of Spirituality & Healing
Decolonization, Radical Presence and Self-Compassion During Pandemics
Rest 101: Rest as a Portal to Creative Intuition
For more information on Pinayista and to purchase tickets to the 2021 Summit visit: https://www.pinayista.org/summit2021.
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About Pinayista:
Pinayista is a nonprofit community collective of Pinays with a mission to build sisterhood in the hustle. Our sisterhood will be one of regenerative power -- creative, spiritual, social, economic, and political -- where we create possibilities where they rarely existed and build strong communities that promote abundance, love, hope, and joy.
About Make It Mariko:
Make it Mariko (pronounced mah-ri-ko) is an all woman of color, Bay Area event planning company focused on creating magical, meaningful moments for the community. We are experience curators, community organizers, corporate planners, nonprofit advocates, and event enthusiasts committed to curating creative, inclusive, and diverse spaces in the events industry.
About Ciel Creative Space:
With 8 studios spread over 40,000 sq ft, Ciel Creative Space provides a unique offering with thoughtful design and engineering that offers world-class necessities to any team in the fashion, tech, art and entertainment communities. Built with the concept of urban acupuncture in mind, its infrastructure encompasses all that is needed to create freely.
About Gatherly:
Current video conferencing platforms are designed for lectures and meetings; Gatherly is designed for events. Our platform allows you to host online events where participants can seamlessly flow between one-on-ones, smaller huddles, and bigger groups.