Philippine American Studies: A Historical & Cultural Perspective

Dr. Rommel L. Rivera, Chairman, Filipino American Association of Philadelphia, Inc., and Vicky Aquino, Associate Director of PAACH-Pan-Asian American Community House, discuss the culture and history of Filipinos in Philadelphia.

Guest Speaker Bios:

Rommel L. Rivera, M.D.

Dr. Rivera has over 20 years of community, medical, and business leadership experience. Concurrently, he is the Chairman of the Board of the Filipino American Association of Philadelphia, Inc., and the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia. He is the Pennsylvania State Chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations. He is the immediate Past President of the Association of Philippine Physicians in America. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Pan Asian Association of Greater Philadelphia.

He works as a Physician/Psychiatrist for LifeStance Health and the Principal Psychiatrist and co- owner of Rommel Rivera, M.D., P.C., a private medical practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has had clinical faculty appointments at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine, and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the Philippines, Quezon City, Philippines, and earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of the East - Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center, College of Medicine, Quezon City, Philippines. He finished his Medical Internship and Residency Training in Psychiatry at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He pursued a fellowship in special immunology at the Department of Medicine of the University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, and a Fellowship in Geriatric Psychiatry at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a licensed physician and surgeon in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Rivera is passionate with causes that empower and advocate for Filipinos and Filipino Americans, especially in improving health and healthcare disparities in these communities.

Vicky Faye Aquino

Vicky Faye Aquino (she/her) is the Associate Director for the Pan-Asian American Community House (PAACH) at the University of Pennsylvania. In this role, she is responsible for advising student organizations in implementing programs that focus on leadership development, advocacy, community engagement, as well as social and cultural events. One of her goals is to connect students to the various AAPI communities and cultural institutions in Philadelphia.

Vicky is also a Lecturer at the Penn Language Center focusing on Filipino language and culture. Before joining Penn, she worked in the areas of development and human resources for five years at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Her first career was in corporate banking where she worked as an analyst for an international bank in Manila, Philippines. When she moved to Philadelphia, she decided to have a career change and pursued meaningful work in the arts, non-profit, and higher education. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Asian American Women’s Coalition (AAWC), and previously served as a Board Member and Chair of the Scholar Development Committee for several years.

Vicky earned a double bachelor’s degree in psychology (B.A.) and business management (B.S.) from De La Salle University and a master's degree in art and design education (M.A.) from The University of the Arts. She graduated with distinction and received an Elizabeth C. Roberts Prize for her master's thesis: The Effects of Doodling on the Academic and Artistic Learning of K–12 Students, which was cited in scholarly publications. Vicky is also a visual artist who believes that art is a universal language that connects people. She has hosted six solo art exhibitions and several group shows in Philadelphia, New York City, and Manila.