Geraldine Batista Roman is the duly elected Representative of the First District of Bataan and is the first transgender woman elected to the Philippine Congress.

She obtained a degree in European Language major in Spanish and French, from the University of the Philippines, after which she received a full scholarship from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Spain to take a Master’s program in Spanish Language and Literature at the Instituto de Cooperacion Iberoamericana, Madrid. She obtained another Master’s degree this time in Journalism at the Universidad Del Pais Vasco, Northern Spain. Rep. Roman worked at the Spanish News Agency as writer and senior editor and for several multinational companies in Madrid.

Her legislative accomplishments as a neophyte member of the 17th Congress includes crafting various laws such as RA 10929, mandating the provision of free Wi-Fi internet access in public areas; RA 11164, Pension Increase for War Veterans; RA 11215, National Integrated Cancer Control Programs; RA 11138, declaring January 11 to be known as Bataan Foundation Day.

For the 18th Congress she filed HB 134, Anti-discrimination based on Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity or Expression (SOGIE); HB 135, Caregivers Welfare Act; HB 136, Comprehensive Anti-discrimation; and HB 137, imposing stiffer penalties for child abuse, among other measures.

Rep. Roman has been awarded by the U.S. magazine, "Foreign Policy", as one of its 100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2016 for being a "challenger for redefining fitness to govern" and for pushing for the SOGIE Equality Act. She was also recognized by TIME Magazine, as one of the Most Inspiring Women of 2016, together with Hillary Clinton and Beyoncé.

Tehran-born Filipino-American Brian Tenorio is a Manila/New York-based design manager and strategic design and communications specialist. He is the CEO & Founder of design firm Brian Tenorio & Company, and cafe chain KapeTayo Coffee. He is a founding Board Member of the Communication Design Association of the Philippines. He is also the Chair and Founder of the Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce and Chief Strategy Officer of Impact Hub Manila.

Tenorio is also an International Consultant for Branding and Design at the Asian Development Bank and the World Health Organization (Western Pacific Regional Office). After training at the Language and Communications Programme of the United Nations Headquarters in New York, he completed his academic research with a focus on‎ National Design Policy Frameworks for Developing Countries via the Design Management Graduate Program of Pratt Institute.

He has twenty years of experience in Design, Development, Innovation-work, and Entrepreneurship. He has created award-winning work as a Graphic Designer for Jaime Zobel, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Tenorio is a former Shoe Designer (Tenorio Manila) until his 2008 retirement from Philippine Fashion. Tenorio headed the jury of the Adobo Design Awards in 2012. He is also one of the main proponents of the Design Competitiveness Act of the Republic of the Philippines. Tenorio developed and taught the Design for Development program at the Ateneo de Manila University in 2013, after finishing the Managing the Arts Program at the Asian Institute of Management.

Queenmelo Esguerra has been in media for more than twenty years. An award-winning documentary maker and TV/film producer, Queenmelo’s portfolio includes the women empowerment program “Proudly Filipina” which won a Gold Camera Award at the 2008 US International Film and Video Festival, and “Inno Sotto: A Special Fashion Documentary,” which won the New York Festivals’ Gold World Medal in 2009. They are the producer of OUT!, the first LGBT-focused program to air on national TV in all of Asia. Queenmelo is the founder of the organization Love Is All You Need, which actively works on lobbying the Anti-Discrimination Bill so that it becomes a law.

Gina is experienced Human Resources professional, with an extensive background in Organization Development, Talent Head of Talent Management & Succession
Manulife Emerging Markets and Business Processing Services

Gina is experienced Human Resources professional, with an extensive background in Organization Development, Talent Management, Succession Planning, Career Coaching and Senior Leadership Development.

She has been working in Manulife for five (5) years. She brings with her expertise in Talent Identification, Leadership Assessments, Strategic Human Capital Management, and Diversity & Inclusion.

She has 20 years of professional work experience in multinational organizations mostly in Financial Services and the FMCG industry.


Gina has taken pivotal HR/Talent leadership roles in Chartis - American International Group (AIG), Philip Morris International (PMI), Export & Industry Bank, Philippine American Life Insurance Company (Philamlife), Nippon Life Insurance Company and began her career as a Business Analyst in Prudentialife VISA.

She graduated with a degree in Sociology from the University of the Philippines and has a Masters in Industrial Relations Major in Human Resource Management from the University of the Philippines, School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UP-SOLAIR) Diliman.

Mel has over 26 years of experience in total human capital management, 15 years of which involved HR practice in a managerial capacity. Her expertise is on corporate case management and labor mediation, as well as in the implementation of HR policies and procedures.

She also has experience when it comes to organizational transformation, and has had significant accomplishments on strategic process management, employee relations, recruitment, and career management. Her HR practice has spanned a diverse breadth of industries including business process outsourcing, shipping, and banking among others.

As Head of Human Resources and a member of the County Executive Team, Suki has played an integral leadership role in the growth of the Philippines business from c65 to 2,000+ employees.

A passionate advocate of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, Suki championed the introduction of benefits for same sex partners and the creation of PRIDE and WIN communities in American Express Philippines.

Suki is also currently the Chairperson of the Global In-House Center Council, Philippines (GICC) Human Resources sub-committee.

Suki joined American Express Hong Kong in 2014 as Head of Employee Relations- Greater China. She then took on responsibility for Head of Employee Relations- Asia Pacific prior to moving to the Philippines in 2016.

Prior to joining American express, Suki has expertise across a wide range of HR disciplines in both regional and global leadership roles. Suki has a track record of leading HR Transformation initiatives resulting in enhanced service delivery to businesses.

Suki has an MBA from the University of Portsmouth, to complement her Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resources Management and a Bachelor's Degree in Genetics.

Responsible for the execution, direction, management, and coordination of the Thomson Reuters Corporate Responsibility & Inclusion strategy, in partnership with senior management teams and leaders throughout the region. She provides advice and project management for the Inclusion Council for Asia and partners with HR to better identify and measure the impact of our D&I initiatives. She likewise provides regional oversight and feedback for business resource groups and global volunteer network teams.

Before this role, Marla has had over 20 years experience in corporate communications and PR, with seven of these at Thomson Reuters as former manager for strategy, communications and corporate responsibility for Thomson Reuters Manila. She was responsible for the Manila Leadership Team strategic initiatives, internal and external communications, and the execution of Corporate Responsibility programs in the Philippines. She was also responsible for executing the company’s employee volunteer program and CR partnerships with other companies and non-government organizations.

Prior to joining Thomson Reuters in 2009, Marla was with Intel Corporation as operations manager for the Asia Employee Communications group; with San Miguel Corporation as internal communications officer, responsible for internal publications and media relations. She first worked as senior associate at Orendain & Associates, a public relations firm, where she was a consultant to multinational banks, drug companies, and non-government organizations

Karen Lema is Deputy Bureau Chief of Reuters News in the Philippines, helping oversee the bureau’s broad story file, ranging from Islamist extremism and devastating natural disasters to one of Asia’s fastest growing economies, and one of its most controversial leaders. Karen has been with Reuters since 2006. She was central to the bureau’s tireless coverage of a mercurial president known as “The Punisher”, which won the 2016 Reuters Story of the Year award. She was previously a senior reporter at BusinessWorld newspaper. She has a Masters in Journalism from the Ateneo de Manila University, where she was a Konrad Adenauer Foundation scholar. She earned her Bachelor degree major in Communication Arts from the University of Santo Tomas, graduating Cum Laude in 1999. When Karen is not chasing news and deadlines, she is chasing the finish line as she is also an avid runner and a triathlete.

Maria Diosa Labiste teaches at the Department of Journalism of UP College of Mass Communication. She was a former community journalist, based mainly in the Visayas for almost 20 years before becoming an academic. In 2017, she co-authored a study on mainstreaming gender in media and higher education institutions commissioned by the Philippine Social Science Center and UNESCO. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy/ PhD from the University of Birmingham, U.K. in 2013 as a Ford Foundation International Fellow.

He was the youngest elected president of the pioneering LGBT group University of the Philippines Babaylan. He holds the historical distinction of being the first openly gay Chairperson of the UP Diliman University Student Council. He is also the founding President of the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines. He is recognized as one of the first gay leaders of a progressive political party in the world being a former National Chairperson of Akbayan Citizens' Action Party.

In 2011, he was appointed to the National Youth Commission. He served as the first convenor of the inter-agency group on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and former Chair of the NYC Committee on Social Inclusion and Equity. He is currently the president of Babaylanes Inc., an NGO working on building capacities of young LGBTs. He is also the president of the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) Awards Foundation.

Leads the operations of Project Inclusion Network, an NGO established to scale-up the reach and impact of Project Inclusion of Unilab Foundation. Project Inclusion Network envisions a nation where Persons with Disability are able to maximize their fullest potential to participate and contribute to society through engaging strategic sectors of society, empowering Persons with Disability, and enabling employers towards disability-readiness.

Since 2013, Project Inclusion has successfully improved access to work opportunities for 1,000 Persons with Disabilities through an access-to-work model which enables communities to practice workplace inclusion. The program supports the transitions of organizations and Person with Disability job seekers towards workplaces where everyone is in a position to succeed.

Jim works with organizations willing to hire Persons with Disabilities, and supports them in their initial steps towards becoming inclusive workplaces, and eventual champions for Person with Disability inclusion. He is also leading the implementation of a skills training project which aims to increase work readiness capabilities of 200 Persons with Disability for the contact center industry, and a nationwide campaign, May 1% Ka Ba?, to promote the employment of Persons with Disability in both public and private sectors.
A development professional working with marginalized sectors through programs implemented by local and international NGOs for the past six (6) years, Jim brings to the organization his project management experience, and his desire to build a more inclusive Philippines.

Martin Petty is bureau chief for Reuters News in the Philippines, overseeing our multimedia coverage of political, general and economic news for our international customers. Martin is British and has worked for Reuters for nearly 12 years, during which he has reported from 15 different countries and two diplomatic battlegrounds in international waters of the South China Sea. As a correspondent, areas he has covered include the war in Afghanistan, the end of a half-century of dictatorship in Myanmar, the first Khmer Rouge genocide trial in Cambodia, two military coups in Thailand, the Beijing Olympics and the soccer World Cup in South Africa. In the Philippines, he and our team has been busy covering floods, typhoons and earthquakes, plus the military’s five-month fight to retake Marawi City from Islamic State-inspired militants. Martin was part of our Philippines team that won Reuters Story of the Year award for its coverage of the rise of the mercurial President Rodrigo Duterte, his controversial China policy, his ambitious economic agenda, and the killings and international outcry over his war on drugs.

Jan is currently Program Associate at ASEAN SOGIE Caucus, a network of LGBTIQ human rights activists in Southeast Asia working towards the integration of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression into the broader human rights work in the region. He is also a member of the LGBT Psychology Special Interest Group of the Psychological Association of the Philippines, which works towards an LGBT-inclusive practice of the discipline of psychology in the Philippines. He was also recently elected into the Board of Trustees of Youth Voices Count, a regional human rights organization created to address the issues and needs of LGBTIQ youth in Asia

Currently he is Business Development Manager of DrugCheck Philippines Inc and proprietor of Nil LGBT Stuff

Nil is a graduate of AB Political Science at CEU –Mendiola and studying Master of Arts in Industrial Psychology at Rizal Technology University - Pasig branch

She is a generalist who has significant experience in Facilitation, Projects and Operations Management.
She is a transgender woman who strongly advocates diversity, inclusion and REDUCE initiatives (i.e. conservation of energy, paper use reduction and waste management) both in the community and in the workplace.

Bing Paraguas is the Talent Strategy Lead for Accenture in the Philippines. In this role, she is responsible for ensuring the 50,000+ strong organization has the right strategies in place for building and growing talents, enabling a future-ready workforce, and cultivating a workplace where employees choose to stay.

Bing has over 20 years experience in Human Resources. She has worked in various multi-national companies in the financial services, technology, and business process outsourcing industries, among which are The PhilamGroup of Companies, PruLife UK, Citibank, and IBM. She functioned as Head of Human Resources for several years and has also held key leadership roles in the specialized areas of learning, organization development, change management, and strategic HR business partnership.

Parallel to her corporate work, Bing has been part of the academe since 2004, teaching at the Ateneo De Manila University’s John GokongweiSchool of Management. Courses she teaches include Strategic Human Resources Development and Organization Behavior.

Bing holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Legal Management (Cum Laude) from the Ateneo De Manila University.

Alpha has marked her 10th year in the IBM Business with her US-North American Payroll profession. She has met the requirements of the American Payroll Institute and was awarded with Certified Payroll Professional (CPP). Currently, she is the Client Services Manager for one of IBM’s North American Payroll account. She has been a BRG leader for the past two years and facilitated Diversity programs promoting Inclusion and Equality for Women, LGBT+ and Multi-Generation. Last year, Alpha was awarded with an LGBT+ Allyship badge through her strong commitment and support in different LGBT+ programs.

An advocate for inclusion in the workplace, Jeiz is one of the co-leaders of IBM Philippines' Business Resource Groups (BRG) for LGBT+, EAGLE and for women, IMA. Instrumental to the deployment of inclusive programs and policies including same gender domestic partner benefits, gender neutral restrooms and ally mentoring, her BRG has been nominated as BRG of the year in the 2016 Out & Equal Summit in Orlando, Florida and she has been nominated as Financial Times’ LGBT Future Leader for 2016. Making strides through the global LGBT+ space, she is part of the Out Role Model program collaborating with LGBT+ leaders within IBM globally. She also currently sits as one of the Leadership Board Directors for the Philippines LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

In her current role as Client Services Manager, Jeiz leads service delivery and cognitive transformation of HR processes focused on employee data management, benefits and contact center services. She brings with her extensive experience in managing Global Mobility processes end to end. Through her background on application of agile methodologies and IBM Design Thinking, she manages and implements initiatives and strategies focused on client satisfaction, effective cost management and employee engagement.

Steph has been with IBM for more than years, carrying with her varying experiences from Recruitment Delivery, Business Operations, Business Anaytics surrounding Solutioning and commercial account cost management. She has ventured in roles in the Talent Organization as a Talent and Engagement Partner focused on Careers and Skills, HR Communications, and Diversity. She has been an advocate of Diversity and Inclusion from the beginning and has joined and led existing Business Resource Groups in the Philippines. She is an Out Role model and have been instrumental to the deployment of the Same-gender Domestic Partnership benefits in the Philippines. She has deployed several different automation tools within HR; including eCertificates, TalentSparks learning plans, and an automated worldwide public distribution list, among other projects that are still in the works. She is a strong supporter of IBM Design Thinking and Agile and hope to propagate many of the practices of Agile in all aspects of her work

Chris is a proven operations strategist, with almost 20 years of experience in multinational organizations and a solid track record of success in building and managing leadership and functional teams. As head of high-level operations at Baker McKenzie's Manila Center, Chris makes sure the Center has the agility, capacity and drive for continued strategic growth.

Drew is a member of the Coca Cola Philippines’ Senior Leadership Team and is responsible for 16,000 associates and more than 300 HR professionals across the company’s 80 sites in the country. He is a seasoned business and HR professional with solid global, regional and local experience across the consumer goods, technology and business process outsourcing industries. He has recently returned back to the Philippines after working 10 years in abroad in different countries such as United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia & Laos.

Abby is a seasoned Site Lead with over a decade of experience in the BPO industry. Her passion is problem solving that results to long-term sustainable outcomes. She has a proven track record of determining strategies to drive operational excellence. As a Site Lead, Abby ensures that the people first culture is being driven at all times.

Mori is a strategist and an expert in digital and mobile with 15 years experience in cross-platform content creation and marketing. Prior to joining EON, he served as AVP and Head of ABS-CBN’s Digital Innovation and Business Development Team where he pioneered a number of award-winning digital platforms. He is responsible for setting up EON’s digital marketing and analytics business. As EON’s CINO, he is responsible for product and business development, corporate affairs, research and analytics, and creatives.

Genevieve Esguerra has over a decade of experience in Customer Support. She is an Operational Manager for the Financial and Risk of Thomson Reuters.

Genevieve is passionate about empowering and development of women. She was the Site Lead for the Women@TR Manila Chapter where she organized Women Summits, Mentoring and CSR initiatives. 2 years ago she was appointed as Co-Chair for the Women@TR Asia Steering Committee. She also played a key role in the creation of Women Inter-industry Network or WIN a collaborative and non-profit community of practice composed of dedicated career women, whose aim is to foster a corporate industry that enables and supports women empowerment by bringing their voice and perspective into leadership and business decision. The group has initiated several programs such as We4She Inter-company Mentoring, the annual awarding of Women Who Rock, held talks on WINning Against Violence, Career Talks and Personal Branding for graduating students among others.

As Director of Learning & Development for Teleperformance Philippines, she leads a team of 50+ that support the over 40,000 employees across the country. Her team creates a system where employees’ leadership & management competencies continuously grow and where they can see themselves evolving professionally.

Olive’s years managing operations are divided between the F&B, Travel & Tourism and IT-BPM industries. In 2004, she formally moved into corporate learning leveraging on her experiences in customer service, client interaction, management and training. She has since gone beyond the walls of L&D rooms conducting company trainings overseas and locally with several projects with IBPAP, TESDA & CHED. The last few years have been focused on D&I with her team’s latest undertaking being the TPPH partnership with ILO’s Women in STEM Workforce Readiness and Development Programme in the Philippines.

Her most treasured achievements remain seeing former trainees and team members lead their own teams, getting “do-not-hires” competent enough to get regularized and witnessing people of all ages finally creating their better life stories.

Olive is a graduate of BS Hotel & Restaurant Administration from the University of the Philippines (Diliman) and holds a Diploma in Organization Development from the Ateneo de Manila University (CORD).

Ms. Catherine Salceda-Ileto is Sutherland’s Senior Director for Corporate Marketing for Philippines, China and Malaysia, and has served as Sutherland’s “ambassador” in the business community and the IT BPM industry, the last 7 years. Cathy has been a passionate spokesperson for Sutherland, and a key enabler in pulling the growth of Sutherland in the Philippines, working closely with local government, the industry, academe and the communities at large. She is also the executive sponsor and lead convener for Sutherland’s social impact initiatives in the Philippines.

Aileen Judan-Jiao was named President and Country General Manager of IBM Philippines in July 2018. In this role, she is responsible for the growth and leadership of IBM Philippines’ operations, which includes sales and distribution and IBM’s fully-owned subsidiaries offering global delivery services –IBM Solutions Delivery and IBM Business Services. As organizations reinvent themselves to outperform competition, Aileen will lead the Philippines team to help clients, partners, and other stakeholders put smart to work in their organizations by applying IBM’s leading AI/cognitive solutions, cloud platform, and industry capabilities.

Aileen is the first homegrown Filipina leader of IBM
Philippines. She takes on this role with a remarkable 26-year track record of pioneering innovations and driving business results in IBM. From being a systems engineer to her most recent role as Country Leader for Enterprise Sales in IBM Philippines where she looked after the top accounts

An influential thought leader in Philippine business and public relations, Junie strongly believes that communication is the most valuable gateway to building trust. A belief he holds with such fervor that it became the cornerstone of a dream venture he founded with two of his closest friends exactly two decades ago.

Under his fearless and visionary leadership, EON rapidly evolved from its humble origins as an events organizing network into the country’s pioneering stakeholder relations firm, and eventually into the internationally acclaimed integrated communications agency that it is today.

In 2017, Junie switched from hands-on management to legacy building, handing over the reins of the company to a professional team that he had personally trained and promoted from within. He continues to participate actively in industry associations and foreign chambers where he drives conversations that help shape national policy and public opinion, particularly on country branding and ASEAN Integration.

Junie has been part of the PRWeek Global Power Book since 2014.

General Manager of Chevron Holdings Inc., has been with Chevron for 19 years. He completed his Bachelor of Business (Accounting) degree in Edith Cowan University Perth Australia and is a CPA. He has held various positions in Chevron: Upstream Oil & Gas, and Mining and has worked in various locations including Australia, US, and Indonesia. He has great love for sports.

I’ve been with the company for 14 years now and currently the Site Head for North America Contact Centre of HSBC, the Engagement lead of the site and D&I - PRIDE Sponsor.

I have a 19 year old son and a Single Mom, which is why I am very passionate in supporting D&I. I specifically chose to lead and sponsor PRIDE because it’s close to my heart. I’ve seen the challenges, encountered some myself and this year, I truly want to be ALL IN and ALL OUT.

“When the norm dictates tolerance, let’s aim to embrace diversity…… “

Pilar is a seasoned professional who has held different executive roles locally and abroad. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Engineering, under the advanced mathematics and statistics track, from the Ateneo de Manila University wherein aside from graduating with honors, she was able to complete the 5year program in only 3 years. Pilar also has an International Baccalaureate degree in higher level Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry from the Armand Hammer United World Colleges (USA). As class valedictorian, she finished her MBA, with concentration in Finance and Banking, from the International University of Japan (Japan) including a term at the London Business School (UK).

She is currently an Assistant Vice President (AVP) of Manulife Business Processing Services (MBPS). However, Pilar actually wears multiple hats at MBPS. She is primarily responsible in leading the Finance service delivery teams towards excellent quality of work, continuous process improvement and customer delight. Her Professional Services team supports the implementation of various global strategic transformation programs by providing certified Project Managers and Business Analysts. She also heads the Control Tower team which is responsible for delivering a scalable and sustainable Shared Services operating model that supports business growth and key strategic priorities while balancing risk.

In her free time, Pilar is a foodie. Not really surprising as she hails from the Daza family. She enjoys the company of family and friends at the dining table. At MBPS, she is the champion on Inclusion and Diversity. She also advocates providing scholarship opportunities for talented Filipinos to study internationally as a board member of the United World Colleges.
Truly a winner with a big heart.