TOFA to bring awards gala to Los Angeles

TOFA2023 board members (clockwise from top) Lisa Lew, Richard and Imee Ong, Marc Anthony Nicolas, Ruben and Janet Nepales. CONTRIBUTED

NEW YORK—After more than a decade at Carnegie, The Outstanding Filipinos in America (TOFA) Awards is bringing its premier Filipino American History Month celebration to Los Angeles, the biggest Filipino concentration in the United States.

“L.A. is our first stop outside of New York as an awarding platform honoring outstanding Filipinos globally,” said Elton Lugay, founder and executive producer of TOFA Awards. “We will be bringing our gala to different venues around the U.S. and beyond, so that more and more local audiences can experience what TOFA is all about.”

Come October 27, the 13^th TOFA Annual Awards will take place at the Zipper Hall in downtown L.A. The venue is across the popular Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Co-produced by Starlink Promotions, the event will be co-presented by the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), the largest Filipino American organization in the U.S., whose national chairman Brendan Flores serves as TOFA board chair this year.

“NaFFAA is proud to partner with TOFA in presenting its 13^th annual awards. This marks the start of a long-term collaboration to showcase the success stories that collectively raise the profile of Filipinos in America. We are privileged to do this in California, where we have the opportunity to engage the largest FilAm community,” said Flores, who is senior vice president at Bank of America.

Joining Flores on the TOFA board this year are award-winning journalists Ruben and Janet Nepales, who pioneered Filipino representation in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association; four-time Emmy Award winner Lisa Lew; iSkin Face and Body Spa and Image Spa MD owners Richard and Imee Maghanoy; and Marc Anthony Nicolas, supervising producer of CBS talk show “The Talk”.

TOFA Executive Producer Elton Lugay (right) with Philippine Consul General Edgar Badajos in Los Angeles(Right photo) NaFFAA National Chairman Brendan Flores and NaFFAA co-founder Loida Nicolas Lewis. CONTRIBUTED

Community leader and philanthropist Loida Nicolas-Lewis, TOFA’s staunchest supporter since 2011, serves as board adviser this year.

On a courtesy call last month, Lugay invited Edgar B. Badajos, Philippine consul-general to L.A., to grace TOFA’s 13^th Annual Awards, which marks the first time the event will ever take place in L.A. Now with three award categories, TOFA is set to recognize about 25 individuals and organizations this year as global, presidential and local awardees.

Among the notable TOFA awardees are Tony winner Lea Salonga; youngest EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner Bobby Lopez; Pulitzer Prize winner Jose Antonio Vargas; Nobel laureate Maria Ressa; fashion designers Josie Natori and Michael Cinco; Olympic Gold Medalist Lee Kiefer; U.S. Air Force Under Secretary Gina Ortiz Jones; California Attorney General Rob Bonta; White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford; and Jessica Cox, a Guinness World Records holder for being the world’s first licensed armless pilot, to name only a few.

TOFA’s move to Los Angeles marks a significant milestone for the event, and demonstrates the growing importance of recognizing the contributions of Filipinos in America.