3 Fil-Ams appointed to Maryland governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Three Filipino Americans were among the 21 community leaders appointed to the Maryland Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs.

Governor Wes Moore announced the appointments today, Dec. 26. The commission advises the governor on issues that affect Maryland’s Asian-Pacific Americans.

The appointees included Fil-Am community leaders Isabelle Balakit, Brian Gerardo and Cecilia Vergara.

Balakit is a former board member of the Department of Justice Asian Pacific American Employees Association. She also served as an outreach coordinator for the Center for Abused Persons for Charles County, providing interviews with victims of domestic violence.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore has appointed three Fil-Am leaders to the Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs. Photo from the State of Maryland’s website

Gerardo is senior associate of learning and capacity building at The Annie E. Casey Foundation. He is founder and president of the Baltimore chapter of the National Association of Asian American Professionals, a founding member of the Baltimore City Mayor’s AAPI Advisory Committee and is a Teach for America alumnus.

Vergara is chief financial officer at both the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and the Montgomery County Chamber Community Foundation. She attended management and executive training courses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, the University of North Carolina Kenan Flagler Business School and Harvard University.

The new appointees “bring direct ties to a range of Asian Pacific countries, deep track records of leadership and engagement” in local Asian Pacific American communities, the governor’s office said.

They also bring a range of professional expertise – from business ownership to education and community nonprofit leadership.

The commission engages, educates and empowers the Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community in Maryland. It also advises government, advances solutions and serves as a resource to ensure the economic, educational, health and social well-being of AAPI constituents.

The Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs is one of the governor’s seven ethnic and cultural commissions that connect the administration with Marylanders and alert the administration “about real-time needs of communities in Maryland,” the governor’s website stated.