FACC Leadership Workshop draws in youthful, elder Fil-Ams in the Carolinas

 

By Susan Palmes-Dennis

ROCKINGHAM, North Carolina—‘When you think of a leader, (can you name) me one (that comes to mind)?’

That’s the question posed by resource speaker Ramon Tenoso during the recent Leadership Workshop sponsored by the Filipino-American Community of the Carolinas (FACC) at the Asian Library here.

Some of the participants like Anna Chua answered ‘Jesus Christ’, son of God and founder of Christianity while Jesett Kelly named ‘Marissa Olarte’, the incumbent FACC president.

There were other leaders mentioned such as Dr. Eumelia Nini Bautista de Garcia, an ROTC Commander in high school and George Washington Jr., according to JR Kelly. 

Tenoso spoke to the participants through Zoom from London and followed the questions concerning the qualities of a leader.  The participants replied that a leader has compassion and vision which draws followers to them. 

‘Inspire before I expire’

Tenoso then reminded the attendees that leaders are defined differently from culture to culture and the Internet has varying definitions of what constitutes leadership.

Tenoso said in the Philippines those who figure prominently in the news may or may not have the qualities of a potential leader.  Tenoso, a playwright in London, ended his discourse by challenging the participants to inspire others by nurturing their individual gifts.

‘(At first) I didn’t want to be a playwright. I never studied theater arts, but when I get the skills (to become a playwright) I nurtured that gift.  So (to all of you) inspire before you expire,’ Tenoso said, a challenge that in turn inspired college student Brandon Bender into saying he will attend another training in the future. 

Other speakers in the FACC Leadership Workshop were past FACC president Wally Penilla who talked about FACC’s history and Ann Gonzales, president and CEO of Carolinas Asian American Chamber of Commere who talked about the art of listening and networking.

Another resource person, incumbent second FACC Vice President Edelweiss de Guzman,  talked about her expertise as a visual artist, designer and storyteller and shared her art work to boot.

Filipino culture

Meanwhile Gloria Grifenhagen, a retired school teacher,  emphasized the family ties of Filipinos and Filipino traditions on respecting one’s elders such as greeting them with ‘mano po.’ 

She went to explain that as a “ detse” or second eldest she helped a sibling finish a course in education. Gtifenhagen has 11 siblings who are all professionals. 

Yet another speaker is Astrid Martin, the daughter of the late Dr. Lucy Cabugwason who’s the first foreign doctor to work in the city of Norwood. 

Astrid said she was exposed to Filipino culture and ways at a young age, where her mother and dad literally opened their house to the Filipino community and neighboring areas. 

Through their interactions with the Filipino-American community, Martin said she saw firsthand ‘love in action’ and she felt this especially when her mom passed away.  She concluded her talk revolving on the question ‘who am I’ that was answered in the second phase of the workshop.

FACC project

Fr. John Tamayo, a Salesian missionary for 50 years based in Phanum Surat Thani, Thailand,  summed up the workshop by saying ‘nobody is an orphan’ and told everyone in attendance that many youths nowadays are slaves to the Internet.

The Dec. 13 Leadership Workshop was a mix of young adults and elder adults. 

The workshop is an FACC project and the FACC’s leadership consists of its president Marissa Olarte, 2nd VP Louie Anquillo, Edelweiss de Guzman, Tess Garcia, Maribel Langford, Ranran Perez, Dhi Donato. 

Also on board were FACC Area representatives Elsie Maurice, Evelyn Glass, Sophie Mach, Erce Cobile.  The members of the training group were Susan Palmes-Dennis, Sheerlyn Siplon and Vida Arcamo.

The training group is the committee on election or Comelec of the FACC. They wish to extend their gratitude to the FACC board of directors present during the workshop namely, FACC President Marissa Olarte, 2nd VP Edelweiss de Guzman, Secretary Tess Garcia and Auditor Ranran Perez.