KALAHI KAREER NIGHT: Business Panel and Active Vendor Market

Mo Doron

Eight Four Three

Mo is a Chicago-based graphic designer with a flair for illustration and a focus on creative work for live events in the music industry. As a very big fan of bright colors, they’ve brought their design sense into creating Eight Four Three — a small shop that celebrates all things Filipino heritage and commonality through embroidered patches, pins, and stickers. When not working, they enjoy eating cheese, dancing at home without pants, and planning the next great adventure to the grocery store.

Francis Almeda

Side Practice Coffee & Reppin Pins

Francis Almeda is an Entrepreneur and Designer in Chicago, IL. Almeda launched a coffee shop that inspires people to #StartSomething called Side Practice Coffee, an enamel pin company that makes pins that "Rep what you love" called Reppin Pins, and an underground pizza shoppe called Novel Pizza. Currently, he is the UX/UI Design Lead at VeeFriends working in the Web3/NFT space.



Previously, Francis was a creative director at award winning ad agencies in Chicago and San Francisco for 16 years. Before his current job, he spent 7 years working for Google brand and marketing teams. Francis has also taught design and digital advertising at the Miami Ad School in SF, Chicago Portfolio School, and DePaul University.

Edie Greenberg

Hustle Hunters

Edie Greenberg is a Senior Recruiter with a recruitment startup, Hustle Hunters, that centers historically excluded groups in the tech industry specifically early-stage startups. She has 15+ years of experience and her favorite candidate demographic is Early Talent. Edie is a second generation Filipina American who was born and raised in Chicago.

Dustin Litorja

Invest With Teri/Trade and Travel

I'm a Filipino American born and raised in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago. I've worked in numerous organizations in a variety of industries, including the creator/gaming industry, intellectual property data, and environmental engineering.



My specializations are in content strategy and I've held roles in software engineering, product management, partnerships, business development, and content marketing.

Jeff Masangcay

Bata Sole

My journey in philanthropy has brought me purpose in this world. I hope to connect communities, impact lives, and make this world a better place one Sole at a time.

A.J. Mortega

Zynga

A.J. Mortega is an Associate Producer at Zynga, working on the Words With Friends team. He was Born and raised in Chicago, with a Bachelor of Science degree from DePaul University. He enjoys gaming on his Xbox Series X and volunteering with BUILD Chicago and iMentor.

Cat Taylo

The P.U.S.O. Foundation

The P.U.S.O. Foundation is an international 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, established in March 2017 and registered in January 2018 in the state of Virginia. Puso is a Tagalog (Filipino) word that directly translates to “heart” in English. However, it has a more powerful and personal meaning for this organization – P.U.S.O. is an acronym for the Purposeful Unconditional Service to Others. Since its inception, the P.U.S.O. Foundation has delivered on its mission to provide hope with a purpose by serving over 200,000 lives around the globe, thanks to the support and involvement of local and global volunteers, students and alumni of the College Outreach Program, and various corporate sponsors.

Charles Acoba

Charles Acoba Team

Charles Acoba is a Fillipino American, born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago and is a successful business owner who has made his mark in both the real estate and entertainment industries. Charles' success as a business owner is a testament to his hard work, dedication, and determination. He has overcome many challenges and obstacles along the way, and has used his experiences to develop a unique perspective on business and entrepreneurship.

Katalina Faraon

Google

Katalina Faraon is a Display and Programmatic Specialist at Google. She is also a lead for the Filipino Googler Network Midwest chapter. As a University of Michigan alumna, she has work experience in the media and advertising tech industry.

Andrew Hong

WE EACH BELONG

Andrew Hong is a Circle keeper, Restorative Justice practitioner, community healer, educator, possibility grower, and founder of WE EACH BELONG---a racial healing, Restorative Justice streetwear brand on a mission to deepen relationships between Asians x other folx of color.



His experience as a teacher on the South Side of Chicago transformed his understanding and his practices of what it really means to experience deeper healing and nurture deeper relationships between Asians and other communities of color, especially when our communities continue to carry a long history of conflict in America. He founded WE EACH BELONG to raise awareness of the need for more healing spaces, and to raise funds to provide such healing spaces---called Circles--- across the city.

Noelle Fajardo

Everybody's Market / Masiramon Chicago

Masiramon Chicago specializes in authentic Filipino inspired desserts and entrées as well as fusion desserts. My mission is to share the Filipino culture and flavors to the Chicagoland area. I enjoy incorporating Filipino flavors such as ube (Filipino purple yam), calamansi (Filipino lime), and buko pandan (young coconut & SE Asian fragrant leaf commonly used in dessert) in well known desserts. For example, some of my top selling items are ube buko pie, ube brownies, ube crème brûlée, and ube rice krispies. I also like to create and offer items that are different such as my cheesecake tacos and baklava cheesecake, and Fruity Pebbles and Chocolate Rice Krispy bars.





Everybody's Market is a curated pop up market event in the Chicagoland area. Everybody’s Market’s mission is to create a community of inclusivity and diversity by actively seeking out LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, AAPI, and Latinx owned businesses as well as provide a platform in which individuals feel safe to share their businesses and their true selves. As a Filipinx, I also focus on providing a platform to my Filipinx community.

Everybody’s Market was created September of 2021. Since then, I’ve organized over 50 events, worked with over 400 micro businesses, and had over 5000 guests in total in attendance.

Shifa Zong

Chicago Loves Chinatown

Shifa is a creative director, community activist, and entrepreneur based here in Chicago.

Christine Trias

Made by Xtine

Christine Trias is a first generation Filipino American, born and raised in Chicago, IL. She is an embroidery artist and small business owner with designs inspired by sports and streetwear. Her work has been featured in HYPEBAE, Finish Line, Footlocker and NBA All Star Weekend.



Aside from Made By Xtine, Christine pursues a full time career as a Sr. Project Manager with a focus on creative advertising and experiential & influencer marketing-- working with global brands such as Nike, ESPN, Netflix, Amazon, L'Oreal and more.