Greetings!
My name is Katrina Cabanban and I am thrilled to be serving as a new board member for the Gender Equality Law Center (GELC).
Many have asked, “What inspired your involvement with GELC?”
Picture this: a crowd of brown people voluntarily shouldering a family’s entire house from one place to another, supported only by their strength and a frame of bamboo poles. As a first generation Pilipina-American, this imagery signifies the highly-regarded value of bayanihan. In Tagalog, this translates to the spirit of cooperative, communal undertaking and derives from an ancient tradition still practiced in the Philippines.
As a young girl of color growing up in Southern California, this value was foreign, yet also familiar to me. Let me explain. I never witnessed the tradition live, but my close-knit family, many of whom are social workers, teachers, and nurses, always emphasized the importance of helping others in both personal and professional settings. The Bayanihan Spirit, as I knew it, rarely included the carrying bamboo poles. Rather, it looked more like my Grandmother—the family matriarch—helping her Cambodian refugee neighbors find work; or my father arriving home late after placing an endangered child with a foster family. Like the joyful participants in the traditional depiction, I was taught that these challenging, collective strides should not be viewed as burdens, but opportunities to achieve a common good. Now as an adult, I strive to live this value and support organizations that do the same.
I am proud to say that GELC’s work is closely aligned with the Bayanihan Spirit in several ways:
Bayanihan means providing support.
GELC uses strategic litigation to support and advocate for a wide group of individuals impacted by gender-based discrimination. In choosing cases, GELC focuses on representing low and modest income individuals who cannot afford to hire private counsel. Their goal is to use litigation as a tool to help break down legal and social barriers to equality whether it be in the workplace, education, housing, public accommodations or in the right to have an equal voice in our society.
Bayanihan means lifting up the voices of the historically disadvantaged communities.
GELC works to advance and support legislative reform that will enhance the rights and opportunities of individuals who have historically experienced gender-based discrimination. Over the past few years, GELC has supported various bills by providing testimony to legislative bodies, joining coalitions and participating in organizing and outreach efforts.
Bayanihan means carrying knowledge to one another.
GELC’s public policy work includes educating and empowering individuals/communities who can give voice to stories that amplify the urgency for changing policies to address the needs and rights of diverse groups of women and members of the LGBTQ community.
GELC also mentors, trains, and offers strategic assistance impacting gender equality to private and government lawyers, as well as to nonprofit legal staff.
I, like many of my family members, seek to elevate my passion and values to a position that provides both personal meaning and a greater good. I look forward to practicing bayanihan as a board member for GELC and hope you will join us in our fight for gender equality!
Sincerely,
Katrina Cabanban
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