Meet the Team

Their collective experience and dedication drive the mission to educate, inspire, and empower Filipinos to participate actively in the electoral process, ensuring that every vote counts and every voice is heard.


  • Founder and the current Executive Director of the Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California, a nonprofit serving and organizing the low-wage Pilipino immigrant community in Los Angeles.  She has served as Executive Director of PWC for 17 years  and has been working in the Pilipino community for 22 years, both here in Los Angeles and in the Philippines. She has been at the head of PWC as it has been a part of the growing statewide and national movement of domestic workers. She studied her BA in Asian American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.  Aquilina is also serving on the Board of Mission Asset Fund and as the current President of the Board of Directors of the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

  • Alex Cruz De Ocampo is a producer, director and executive strategic public affairs consultant with decades of experience in entertainment, government relations and philanthropy. Alex began his career working alongside Glenn Padnick, President of Castle Rock Entertainment Television, when the company produced critically acclaimed content such as Seinfeld. Alex rose through the ranks from assistant to senior advocacy advisor at Saban Capital Group and was instrumental in developing the Saban Family Foundation’s strong global presence.

    The son of Filipino immigrants, Alex marries his interest in arts and civic engagement through Barkada Productions by producing and directing shorts, documentaries and Public Services Announcements (PSAs) to advance AAPI and LGBTQ+ issues, in addition to producing political ads to encourage participation in the democratic process. He is has produced dozens of political ads, award winning short films, and PSA(s). Currently, he is executive producing an “untitled” political documentary in partnership with Vice Studios that has been filming for 3 years.

    He shared this perspective while serving as a State Senate Appointee to the California Film Commission (2016-2019) and currently Gubernatorial Appointee to the California State Summer School for the Arts. Alex advocates for inclusion on the stage as an East West Players board member, the nation’s first AAPI professional theatre organization. He is also a member of Gold House and a former Coalition of Asian Pacific in Entertainment board member.