Thirteen Filipinos have made it to Gold House’s annual A100 List of trailblazing Asians, Asian-Americans, and Pacific Islanders (APIs) leading the “new gold age” for the races.
The A100 List that honors the most influential members of the Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander community for API Heritage Month in May this year includes changemakers: first Filipino Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa, as well as some of the most influential entertainment personalities and musicians of Filipino descent, such as Olivia Rodrigo, Bruno Mars, and Jo Koy, among others.
Filipino-American National Basketball Association (NBA) stalwarts Jalen Green and Jordan Clarkson and Olympic Gold medalists Justine Wong-Orantes and Lee Kiefer also entered the list for their achievements in sports.
The thirteen honorees who have proudly declared and embraced their Filipino heritage were recognized across industry categories and will be celebrated at the inaugural Gold Gala, an in-person event set to be held on May 21, 2022, in downtown Los Angeles, California.
Here are the 13 Filipinos on Gold House’s A100 list:
Advocacy & Politics
Maria Angelita Ressa
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2021
Maria Ressa is the CEO and Co-Founder of Rappler, an online news organization in the Philippines.
The Filipino journalist was named co-winner of the 2021 edition of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize along with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace”.
Her numerous awards also include being named Time 2018 Person of the Year and listed among its TIME 100 Most Influential People of 2019.
Ressa delivered her historic lecture as she received the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway and was honored with a photo exhibition by Filipina photojournalist Hannah Reyes Morales.
Entertainment
Bella Poarch
Musician
Bella Poarch is a TikTok star and musician who first rose to internet fame on the video-sharing site TikTok with her lip sync videos. She is the platform’s third most-followed person with over 88 million followers as of this writing.
The Filipina is also a “U.S. Navy veteran, gaming icon, anime obsessive, lifelong singer, and burgeoning songwriter who created countless home recordings based on her emotionally raw lyrics and self-taught ukulele skills.”
This year, Bella won the Social Star Award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards and marked her transition to the music industry by landing the cover of Cosmopolitan’s first-ever music issue released in March 2022.
Bruno Mars (Silk Sonic)
Musicians
Bruno Mars is part of the R&B superduo, Silk Sonic, with American rapper Anderson .Paak.
Mars, a longtime Grammy favorite, won all four of the awards that he was nominated for alongside Anderson .Paak in the 64th annual Grammy Awards.
Hailee Steinfeld
Actor, Singer & Producer
Filipino-American Hailee Steinfeld is a Golden Globe and Academy Award-nominated actor, multi-platinum recording musician, and producer. Steinfeld most recently played the role of Kate Bishop in Marvel’s highly anticipated series Hawkeye, earning her Fan Favorite Actress of 2021 by the Golden Tomato Awards.
Jo Koy
Comedian & Actor
Hollywood’s top comedian Jo Koy is known for his brand of comedy that pokes fun at his Filipino and Asian heritage.
The Netflix star is starring as a Filipino-American nurse in the new sitcom “Josep” and in the upcoming film “Easter Sunday” which is based on his own stand-up comedy and life experiences.
Jo Koy published his tale of Filipino American success in Hollywood in the book, “Mixed Plate”.
Olivia Rodrigo
Singer-Songwriter
Teenage pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo swiftly rose to music stardom following her record-breaking debut single “drivers license” and her first full-length album, SOUR.
Already known to fans for her work as an actress, the Filipino-American singer-songwriter marked a breakout year of milestones in music by winning the 2022 Grammys, Billboard’s Women in Music Awards, and the Apple Music Awards, among many others.
The 19-year-old was born to an American mother and a Filipino-American father and was named Time Magazine’s Entertainer of the Year.
Lifestyle
Bretman Rock
Digital Superstar
Bretman Rock is a Filipino-American digital superstar, known for his unique sense of comedy, genderbending fashion, and creating the new standard of male beauty.
Bretman is proud of his Filipino heritage and showcases Pinoy culture in his own digital reality show, “MTV Following: Bretman Rock.”
The Filipino reality star earlier dedicated his first-ever Breakthrough Social Star award in last year’s MTV Movie & TV Awards to members of the AAPI community.
Rachell “Rae” Hofstetter (Valkyrae)
Content Creator & Streamer
Rachell “Rae” Hofstetter, better known as Valkyrae, is a Filipina-American streamer, entrepreneur, and Co-Owner of 100 Thieves.
Valkyrae has won numerous accolades such as Content Creator of the Year at The Game Awards 2020 and landing on the 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 List.
Sarah Burke
Editor-in-Chief, Them
Sarah Burke is a Brooklyn-based, mixed Pilipinx journalist from O’ahu. She is the Editor-in-Chief for Them, an award-winning LGBTQ-focused publication.
Burke was formerly a Special Projects Editor at VICE and has helmed projects such as The Gender Spectrum Collection, an award-winning stock photo library featuring trans and nonbinary models, and the Ellie-nominated podcast Queerly Beloved, among others.
Sports
Jalen Green
Shooting Guard, Houston Rockets
As only the third player in the NBA to be of Filipino descent, standout rookie Jalen Green is only the third NBA player to be of Filipino descent, following Jordan Clarkson and Raymond Townsend.
Deciding to forego college basketball, Green was drafted number two overall in the 2021 NBA draft and signed a one-year contract with the inaugural NBA G League Ignite, a developmental team affiliated with the NBA G League.
With the United States at the junior level, he’s won three gold medals and was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2018 FIBA Under-17 World Cup.
Jordan Clarkson
Shooting Guard/Point Guard, Utah Jazz
Filipino American star athlete Jordan Clarkson was cited for his long list of athletic achievements which include averaging “a career-high 16.8 points per game for the Cavs during the 2018-19 season” and scoring “a career-best 42 points on February 13, 2019, against the Brooklyn Nets.”
The Utah Jazz guard earlier won the 2020-21 Kia NBA Sixth Man Award.
Clarkson is proud of his Filipino-American heritage and has dual citizenship with the Philippines and the United States.
Clarkson, together with other influential Fil-Am stars, called for a stop to hate incidents against Asians and Asian Americans.
The NBA superstar earlier stepped in to restore a Filipino and Asian fusion food truck in Utah after it was spray-painted with anti-Asian and racist messages of hate.
Jordan Clarkson previously teamed up with NBA Philippines to bring smiles to two Pinoy frontline heroes with a special holiday treat during the Christmas episode of the Republika Huddle show.
Justine Wong-Orantes
Olympic Gold Medalist, Volleyball
Playing for the U.S. National Team since 2017, Justine Wong-Orantes is an American professional volleyball player and Olympic gold medalist for Team USA.
Of Filipino-Chinese and Mexican descent, in her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, she led the Olympics in serve reception percentage and was named the best Libero of the Olympics. Wong-Orantes also plays for VC Wiesbaden in Germany.
Lee Kiefer
Olympic Gold Medalist, Fencing
Filipino-American fencer Lee Kiefer has competed in 9 World Championships and 3 Olympic games, taking home the gold in Tokyo 2021. Fencing led to collegiate fencing and a pre-medicine track at the University of Notre Dame in 2012.
Last year, nine Filipinos made it to Gold House’s annual A100 List.
SEND CHEERS in the comments below to the Filipinos who have made it to Gold House’s annual A100 List of trailblazing Asians, Asian-Americans, and Pacific Islanders (APIs) leading the “new gold age”.
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