Ivy Daulo is a lifelong learner and community advocate for the Filipino language movement. Growing up as a heritage language learner with no Filipino/Tagalog language classes offered in K-12, Ivy finally had the opportunity to take Filipino/Tagalog classes at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 2003, and became inspired to learn more through several study abroad programs in the Philippines. She became the first to graduate with a degree in Language Studies: Tagalog from UCSD, accompanied with her bachelor’s degree in Sociology. After many years in both the education and nonprofit sectors, Ivy earned a Master’s Degree in Education, with a focus on Dual Language Development and eventually became adjunct faculty at California State University Long Beach, teaching Filipino/Tagalog and Asian American Studies courses from 2014 to 2018. As part of the Council for Teaching Filipino Language and Culture, Ivy coordinated the first virtual intercultural teacher exchange program amongst teachers within the San Diego County Office of Education and various schools in the Philippines and continued these language advocacy efforts by working with organizations like the Search to Involve Pilipino Americans and the Filipino Cultural School. Beyond roles in education and nonprofits, she has worked for both federal and local governments to ensure that culturally-responsive approaches toward meaningful community engagement are used. Ivy currently leads language access efforts in the City of Los Angeles and remains committed to equitable representation and language justice.

Jairus Ramos is studying to complete the teacher credential program at California State University Long Beach (CSULB) so he can teach Filipino/Tagalog in grades K-12. He believes in celebrating diversity, equity, and opportunities for youth and adults to learn Filipino language and culture. Since 2019, Jairus has been a community teacher, teaching Filipino/Tagalog in various communities around Los Angeles, and then online in the summer of 2020. He was born in Laguna, Philippines, and immigrated to the United States at the age of 6. He grew up in Southeast Los Angeles in a Tagalog-speaking household, which was how he was able to retain his first language. However, it was not until transferring to CSULB that he was able to take formal Filipino/Tagalog classes. He studied Filipino/Tagalog for four semesters there, and also studied Filipino/Tagalog over a summer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison through the Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI).