103: “I am, because we are.” Using your privilege, access, & platform to create opportunity & build collective success with Marissa Tirona

103: “I am, because we are.” Using your privilege, access, & platform to create opportunity & build collective success with Marissa TironaMother, Proud Oaklander & Sci-Fi Nerd Marissa Tirona’s mission in life is to support leadership amongst Black & Brown young women & girls. In today’s episode, Marissa joins us for an insightful conversation about how she contextualizes her family’s story of mixed migration in her understanding of the imperialist relationship between the U.S. & Philippines, differences she’s noticed among regional Filipinx-Americans, and how her values as a Pinay have helped her sharpen her path in cultivating a purposeful life. Observing the dichotomy of success of Filipina women she witnessed in her own family growing up, she outlines how she’s using the privilege, access, & platform she has today to make leadership & opportunity more visible & accessible for other women of color, and how being in right-relationship with one another is at the heart of our collective success. Marissa also shares her experience as one of the early patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the NYU ICU for two months in 2020, what it was like being in a coma on life support at the beginning of a global pandemic, and how the only way we’ll make it to the other side is together.Contact Marissa on Instagram @marissa_tirona or on Twitter @marissatirona--For our latest updates and FINAL community events, check out our newsletter, published Friday, May 23rd, 2025: https://mailchi.mp/e9ab60aa7aeb/tfaw-project--NEWSLETTER: Receive the latest stories, updates, and media coverage by subscribing to our FREE newsletter: TFAWPROJECT.COMABOUT US: From 2019 to 2024, The Filipino American Woman (TFAW) Project was a podcast that strengthened Filipino voices one conversation at a time through all things life, culture, and personal development. Learn about the latest happenings of the show, which'll be announced SUMMER 2025: TFAWPROJECT.COMACADEMIC PAPER: Special thanks to the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies at UC Davis for the opportunity to present our academic paper, Pinay Podcasters: Building a Self-Sustaining Community Through Storytelling, Collective Healing & Learning, and Collaboration. The initial draft is now available! Read more at http://pinaypodcasters.com/RECOGNITION: In December 2020 and December 2021, we received an Honorable Mention at the Asian American Podcaster's Golden Crane Podcast Awards. August 2020, Jen Amos participated as a speaker on behalf of TFAW Project for PodFest Global, which now holds the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for Largest Attendance for a Virtual Podcasting Conference in One Week. May 2020, we were recognized as “Amplifying Asian Women Voices” on Spotify during AAPI Heritage Month.We've also been featured in Realtime Community Oakland, Mochi Magazine, Ossa Collective, SUPERBANDS, Chopsticks Alley, FoundHer by Entrepinayship, Spotify, PodFest Expo, Philippine American Foundation for Charities, When In Manila, You Are Collect;ve, San Diego Union Tribune, NBC 7 San Diego, and much more! Read more at: https://linktr.ee/tfawproject.featured CONNECT WITH US: Instagram @thefilipinoamericanwoman, Facebook @thefilipinoamericanwoman, Twitter @thefilamwoman, YouTube @thefilipinoamericanwoman, LinkedIn... This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.tfawletters.com/subscribe