#DoingTheHeartWork
We remember the moment like it was yesterday.
7 days before our 4th Annual Fly Pinays was to be held at Mission College.
The evening of March 6, 2020 – our team jumped on an emergency call to discuss the novel Coronavirus and the string of ticket refunds we were receiving. We had varying levels of fear and concern. Admittedly, some of our organizers weren’t phased. Others were. Frankly, we didn’t know what was in-store or what we were up against.
We consulted with several health care professionals in our network and our Board of Directors and ultimately decided to cut our production, cancel our 4th Annual Fly Pinays – which had over 120+ tickets purchased with a week remaining.
Our team took a week to emotionally decompress, but not for long, as a mere 5 days later county-wide, statewide, nationwide and worldwide “Stay-At-Home-Orders” would ensue to reveal a new world order that none of us could’ve imagined.
This is the story of our 2020 Fly Pinays – it wasn’t going to be the narrative of our future Fly Pinays events or the community that we’ve built around sisterhood, mentorship, and sponsorship.
On Saturday, March 20, 2021 we hosted our virtual Annual Fly Pinays – an event that we’ve hosted since 2017 to observe and honor Womyn’s Herstory Month.
We were delighted to host a virtual convening for over a hundred Pinays from across the country. It is truly our honor to continue uplifting our work in service to each of you.
Saving the best for last: To our 2021 Fly Pinays Planning Committee, led by our Program Director, Marissa Martinez. We couldn’t do this work without each of you. Thank you for contributing your presence and spirit to the enlivening of our programs as we advance FilAm leadership, prosperity and justice.
2021 Fly Pinays Planning Team:

In case you missed it, check out our panel talks on Community Power and Career & Mental Health at Fly Pinays:
Gina Mariko Rosales, Founder of Make It Mariko & Pinayista; Jessica Hsieh, Executive Sponsorships at Amazon; Mellanie Rhae Tanada, Public Policy School at
University of Washington; Moderated by: Dr. Gel Cortez
Dr. Rowena Tomaneng, President of San Jose City College; Gayle Romasanta, Publisher and Owner, Bridge Delta Publishing; Aureen Almario, Bindlestiff;
Moderated by: Leezel Tanglao, The Point Guys




