Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Bagaporo.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Natalie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My Lola (grandmother) on my mother’s side of the family had a saying, “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” Though my Lola and I only shared a month together in this lifetime, I see my own dreams and aspirations as the fruit that have bloomed from the seeded faith, hard work, and love of those who have come before me, especially that of my grandparents and parents. Long before my time, my grandparents on both sides of the family embarked on a long and life-changing journey to bring their families to the United States. My mother’s side of the family settled in Imperial Beach, and they began their lives of service to Filipinos in San Diego through several community-based organizations, all in an effort to bring together and empower the community.
I was born and raised in Bonita, California. I am the eldest of five children. As children, we were told of the Ricasa family legacy in San Diego; however, I will admit that I wasn’t too interested in the topic of community service or inheriting responsibilities of community leadership. I knew that my mother had continued the work of her mother before her, and she was a reputable member of the community. I spent much of my adolescence dancing in and out of different community events, meeting countless members of the Filipino community in San Diego, but not fully recognizing the impact or depth of the work that my grandparents and parents had contributed.
It wasn’t until I left to pursue my undergraduate education at the University of California, Los Angeles that I saw and felt the power of the people organizing for a greater good. Though I had moved cities, the legacies of my family’s service were tied to student activist movements on UCLA’s campus. I joined Samahang Pilipino at UCLA, the official voice of the Filipino-American community on campus. My involvement in this student organization opened my eyes to servant leadership, mentorship, intergenerational community-building, cross-community solidarity, and more. Coupled with the pedagogy of Asian American Studies, I had awoken a new critical consciousness and passion for social justice.
After graduating in 2018, I moved back home to San Diego to begin my post-graduate life with the village that raised me. Equipped with new tools, connections, and a sense of self, I set new intentions to learn about my community and the needs of the people here. In August of 2018, my cousin, Anthony Deguzman, introduced me to UniPro San Diego. UniPro stands for Unity for Progress. It is a nonprofit organization that engages Filipino Americans through collaboration, advocacy, and leadership development. Through collaboration, advocacy, and leadership development, UniPro seeks to transform Filipino students and young professionals into our next community leaders. I helped coordinate and executed our UniPro National Summit in November, and immediately fell in love with the work and the people of UniPro San Diego.
During the planning of the summit, I had heard about RISE San Diego. RISE San Diego is a nonprofit organization based in Southeast San Diego. Their vision is to transform the faces of leadership in San Diego by providing our community with the resources and developments to empower and actualize our own leadership. I had applied to the fellowship program, and in January 2019, I was selected amongst 24 other San Diego leaders to be in the Generation V cohort. Through RISE San Diego, I found healing, transformation, and a deeper understanding of myself and the community around me.
I have spent the past two years doing the inner work as well as building relationships with the community in and outside of my own identities. My passion for servant leadership and community organizing is heavily attributed to the legacies of my own family, the guidance of my countless mentors, and the call to do good. I stand on the shoulders of so many giants who have fought for and served our people across generations. My work, both community and professional, are extensions of my understanding of the Bayanihan spirit. Bayanihan translates to “the spirit of communal unity.” It is a Filipino core value that has carried the weight and importance of collectivism and collaboration. Bayanihan comes hand in hand with Kapwa. Kapwa is a traditional Filipino core value that translates to “I Am Because You Are”, recognizing the divine humanity in one another. These two values are at the core of my work. Family is my foundation for living and for serving, and through UniPro San Diego and RISE San Diego, I hope to continue to elevate our beautiful San Diego community.
Has it been a smooth road?
Far from it. That much was expected. One of my favorite professors, Roderick Labrador, told me that we are all creatives, and it is our responsibility to innovate new solutions and imagine a different future for ourselves. But diverging from “normal” meant that we were going to challenge. Those challenges were opportunities to learn and broaden our perspectives, chances to evaluate and really see the lessons and tools we’ve learned along the way.
A lot of the past two years have been marked with self-discovery, healing, and growth. Something that RISE San Diego really reminded us was that we needed to do the inner work before we projected our problems on to the people that we love and serve. My post-graduate life has been a two-year period of transition, both in my professional career and my personal community organizing journey.
In 2017, we had to leave my childhood home in Bonita. We moved further southwest, and the move challenged my notion of home and my understanding of my identity. I feel that as I contemplated the deeper meaning and value of home being found in people versus physical spaces, I began to forgive myself in other areas of my own life. I spent my post-graduate years making peace with drama from undergraduate organizing and looked forward to who I was to be outside of the institution of education.
Every challenge that I have faced in my life has helped to shape my current passions and career aspirations. I currently serve as an advisor at San Diego State University. My leadership experiences and community service inform my advising style, and I am so grateful to be able to share, learn, and grow with my students. I hope to transform the landscape of higher education and revolutionize student empowerment. I recognize my capacity and profession as an extension of my commitment to servant leadership, and I am fulfilled by the work that I am able to do.
Please tell us about UniPro San Diego.
UniPro San Diego was the first national chapter to be launched after our nonprofits’ original launch in New York. We have been in San Diego since 2014, serving the Filipino community through our various programming. We host community Rise and Grinds – educational sessions where we discuss different current events and how they impact our community members -, High School Workshops – partnering with collegiate Filipino-American organizations to create workshops that will help “edutain” and empower our Filipino-American youth -, cohosting with different creative organizations such as San Diego Filipino Cinema to help showcase our community talent and speak on important issues, and actively promote and participate in civic engagement, ensuring that we increase the community’s access to knowledge and resources around different issues such as the Census.
I believe something that makes UniPro San Diego is that our team has such a range of talent, interests, and experiences, allowing for us to reach across different mediums of organizing. There are no limits or bounds to the kinds of creativity and programming we can create. We specifically aim to support the young adult population and seek to bridge the intergenerational gap within the Filipino community. We are centered on relationship building within and outside of our community.
UniPro San Diego is truly a family. They are my home away from home, giving me the strength to be brave and the love to nurture both myself and the community.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
San Diego is home to one of the largest populations of Filipinos in America. UniPro San Diego exists here in San Diego with an ultimate mission of not existing. In our most ideal vision of community, we will have dismantled systems that tear us down and apart. Until then, we take our community in stride day by day. We have recognized the need for UniPro San Diego to exist here in this beautiful city. We are able to collaborate with so many wonderful Filipino community-based organizations and members who are doing remarkable and much-needed work every day.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.unipronow.org/san-diego-1
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uniprosd/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/unipronowsd/about/?ref=page_internal
Image Credit:
UniPro San Diego
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