Meet Dr. Abby

Hi, I’m Dr. Abby! I conducted a study on 500 Filipino Americans and found that the more we hold onto our Filipino cultural norms, the less assertive we are. People asked me, “What should we do?” so I spent the last few years studying all the reasons for cultural disconnects as well as specific techniques to speak up. Now I speak at companies, colleges, and conferences to tell others how to behave across the cultures. My topics include Mindful Diversity, Unconscious Bias, Emotional Intelligence, Assertiveness, and Cultural Agility.

I have done 3 TEDx talks (Tampa, Phoenix, and Deland) about finding our voice and our power across different cultures. I have completed my book Speak Up Anak: Assertiveness Strategies for Filipino Americans and also a Christian devotional book called Faith, Trust, and Pizza Crust. I currently work as a Director of Student Services at a local university and hold many leadership positions in the Filipino-American community.

I believe it is important to understand my culture and make it part of my everyday life. In this changing society, I know there are some people not ready for diversity, so I like to let people meet me and see me for who I am, a Filipino American!