VIA Times – March 2020 Issue Vital News, Vibrant VIews for Asian Americans in Chicago & Midwest
By: Veronica Leighton
Here’s featuring the three key Filipina-American Women in the Midwest (see pictures and more descriptions at right). Thank you for the honor, the Philippine Consulate General of Chicago, headed by Hon. Gina Jamoralin.
Atty. Aurora Abella-Austriaco is an equity partner in an all-women-owned law firm, Valentine Austriaco Bueschel Law Firm. She served as the first Asian American President to the American Bar Association and served as the first woman and first Asian President of the Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association. She also served as Commissioner of various Cook County and Illinois Commissions. She also started an Asian Women Business Group to provide a forum for Asian business women.
Mae Flores is an award-winning Filipina-American actress turned speaker and advocate. She is a Goodwill Ambassador for “Today I’m Brave”, Europe Aid honored her as one of the Top 200 Women in the World Development Wall of Fame. Mae has received multiple awards, like the UN Global Goals Award for her work in Gender Equality and the WNBA Redefine Women Award for her work in the sexual assault advocacy space.
Veronica Leighton is the sole founder, creator, publisher, editor, administrator and manager of the longest-running monthly print publication (Via Times Newsmagazine, almost four-decades old) and the executive producer of a sister broadcast outfit (Chicago Philippine Reports TV-CPRTV), the only locally-produced TV show in the Chicagoland that airs on Chicago Cable 25. Her annual community project, the Chicago Filipino Asian American Hall of Fame Awards has given visibility and recognition to outstanding Filipino Americans, Asian Americans and others, in the last 25 years. In 2019, Via Times Newsmagazine was selected the Best Print Magazine for Migration Advocacy and Media Awards by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO).
Belated birthday luncheon treat honoring VT columnist Maria Girlie Pascual at The Courtyard Oakbrook, from left, Veronica, Elizabeth Cambay Regacho, Salvy Marino, and Girlie Pascual. Not in picture are Joe Mauricio and Elbert Regacho.
In celebration of National Women’s Month in the Philippines and International Women’s Day on 8 March 2020, the Philippine Consulate General in Chicago is proud to chronicle the accomplishments and advocacies of key Filipina-Americans in the Midwest.
The celebration’s theme in the Philippines, “We Make Change Work for Women,” highlights the empowerment of women as active contributors to and claimholders of development. It endeavors to bring together women and girl leaders from various generations towards a collective agenda of empowering all women and girls.
