Advocate. Community Builder. Nonprofit Leader.
Organizing for civic and cultural power across Filipino, AAPI and broader communities.
Dr. Angelica [Gel] Cortez is an award-winning activist, founder, and leading voice in the Filipino American power building movement. Following a successful career in public policy and advocacy, she founded LEAD Filipino in 2015 out of San Jose. Over the past decade, she has grown the organization into a powerful voice for Filipino leadership. In 2024, she led the expansion of the organization into Nevada and Texas.
Before establishing her nonprofit organization, Dr. Cortez worked for legislators and held executive roles with advocacy groups. In Silicon Valley, she worked to protect funding for social safety net services and in Los Angeles, she organized for immigrant rights. She often intertwines these early experiences with power and systems—including her own family’s story—into her speeches and keynote talks on Filipino civic leadership, movement building, political activism, and social entrepreneurship.
Advocacy & Cultural Initiatives
Check out the numerous cultural and community-based organizations and projects that Dr. Cortez works with.
Queer Silicon Valley Interview
Dr. Cortez sits down with former Santa Clara County Supervisor and BAYMEC founder, Ken Yeager, and shares her personal story, the early days of LEAD Filipino, coming out as openly lesbian and her continuous motivation for building and sustaining civic and political infrastructure for Filipinos and communities of color.