Page 8 - 2023-24_mid_year_report_AFIRE_V2 Marilou Mariko Carrera

Kaya Rial (they/them), Coalition Organizer:
Pictured back row: Kaya Rial, Coalition Community Organizer; Marilou Mariko Carrera, Development & Strategic Communications Manager;
Evangeline “Vangie” Sipple, Outreach Coordinator & GoldenAgers Lead; Ryan Viloria, Executive Director; Noel Henry, Citizenship & Ops
Manager. Front row: André Adricula, Language Consultant; Danielle “L” De Vera, Former Community Organizer.
Who’s Who?
MEET THE AFIRE STAFF
The AFIRE team has grown!
We are excited to be in a place
of building our goals and
working together, moving with
intention toward sustainability.
Meet the team:
dictionaries, they enjoy singing in tunnels,
Ryan Viloria (he/him), Executive Director:
Ryan oversees AFIRE’s staffing and
programming, working to ensure our
infrastructure is in alignment with our
mission and values.
Tita Vangie (she/her), Outreach Coordinator,
GoldenAgers Lead: Tita conducts outreach for
a number of AFIRE’s programming, including
for citizenship workshops, Citizenship
Application Preparation (CAP) Sessions,
general member meetings, and other events.
She also leads our senior members, promoting
community building and space for social
activities and engagement.
Kaya leads AFIREs mobilization efforts, playing pool, learning the newest KPOP
monitoring campaign efforts happening choreo, and contemplating the duality of being
within coalitions and creating spaces for “bagets” to some and “elder” to others.
community leaders to plug into civic
engagement and campaign work. Sally “Tita Sally” Richmond (not pictured):
Sally Richmond is a community organizer and
Noel Henry (they/he), Citizenship Program longstanding member of the AFIRE community.
Manager: Kuya Noel leads AFIRE’s efforts to Tita Sally participated in the Wieboldt
support those interested in or actively seeking Foundation’s Capacity Building Organizing
citizenship status, including Citizenship Cohort, a program that provides opportunities
Application Preparation (CAP) Sessions. for community organizations to learn ways to
He also oversees AFIRE’s Operations. address challenges within their communities
while also building power.
Marilou Mariko Carrera (they/siya/she),
Development & Strategic Communications Note: At the publishing of this report, Danielle
Manager: Marilou Mariko leads AFIRE’s De Vera (they/them, pictured) has transitioned
work to develop strategies for raising funds out of AFIRE’s Community Organizer role.
that sustainably continue programming Danielle was crucial to our base building efforts,
and intentionally connect AFIRE’s work and we wish them all the best!
to the community.
CONTRACTORS FROM 2023
Agnes Meneses (not pictured): Agnes Meneses
facilitated AFIRE’s retreat with staff, board,
and members along with post-retreat follow
up sessions. Agnes is the Founder/Principal
of AGMeneses Consulting LLC which supports
collectives and organizations navigate change
through strategic advisory and facilitation,
communities of practice, and individual
and team coaching grounded in equity and
belonging.
André Adricula: André is a queer, nonbinary
language teacher and linguist originally from
the Bay Area, but has been calling Chicago
home for the last 6 years. Currently, they teach
conversational Tagalog privately and in
collaboration with Filipinxao orgs such as Want to learn more about
AFIRE and Anakbayan Chicago, contextualizing
and narrativizing the histories of diasporic our staff?
Filipino-Americans. They critique authenticity
discourse and the status of Filipino (Tagalog)
as a sociolinguistic indicator of Filipino identity. Visit our website at
Aside from constantly scrolling through online afirechicago.org/staff