About us

Who we are​

Brown Faces to the Sun, a collaborative project sponsored by the Filipina Women’s Network and Silayan Filipina, is a leadership academy for Filipinx American youth in San Diego that fosters self-discovery and cultural identity through their lived experience.

The project began with Rohanee Zapanta’s Global Pitch Project after being recognized by the Filipina Women’s Network as one of the “Most Influential Filipina Women in the World” in 2023. She envisioned an academy that will help guide ambassadors through intensive educational workshops focusing on education and music, cultural and leadership training, and creative collaborations with community organizations.

Logo History

brown-faces-to-the-sun

The line “Kapwa tilts my chin upward until I become ONE…” was the inspiration for the logo concept design. This project specifically explores the Filipino-American’s identity, and that identity’s core values that make the participants uniquely them. Because of that, the logo was designed to visually incorporate those 2 distinct cultures, and symbolically fusing them as “ONE”. Graphical elements of both country’s national flags were incorporated in the design to help illustrate how the duality of the participant’s identity and their experiences helps to not only shape and understand who they are, but to also encourage them to become ambassadors of those core values that they find within themselves.

The phrase “…chin upward…” is another important line associated with the project, and so it lends itself to be visually incorporated into the logo’s design. Silhouettes were left as ambiguous as possible to illustrate the Filipinx aspect of the project. Color palette wise, shades of brown also lends itself as a design choice seeing as it incorporates the essence of the project. To further illustrate the duality of the Filipino American identity, within the logotype, the font Agenda Bold, a more classically san serif font is used to visually illustrate one culture, while a more decorative font, the aptly named Batangas Bold is used to illustrate the other.

Meet The Co-Founders

Marline Bitanga
Co-Chair

Known as a “visionary, creative, and bold thinker,” Marlino Bitanga has a clear vision of the kind of world he wants to live in: A purpose centric world where organizations are committed to making a difference for others, not just profit.

Captivated by discovering new ideas, Marlino has built a reputation for delivering innovative design and marketing solutions for small and mid-sized companies over the past 21 years.

Today, Marlino devotes his life to sharing his insights and expertise on branding, guiding organizations on the journey of building their business around their truth, developing the soul of the organization through the people who lead them. He thrives on building relationships and helping good people and organizations succeed.

He is also active in the community, working with local colleges and nonprofits, participating in volunteer mentorship programs and providing workshops and seminars.

Christopher Vito
Co-Chair

Christopher Vito, PhD received his Doctorate in Sociology from UC Riverside. He teaches Introduction to Sociology and Social Problems, and studies hip hop in relation to race, class, and gender. His book, The Values of Independent Hip-Hop in the Post-Golden Era: Hip-Hop’s Rebels, was published by Springer/Palgrave McMillan, and he has previously published in peer-reviewed journals such as Global Hip Hop Studies, International Journal of Cultural

Studies, NORMA: International Journal for Masculinity Studies, and Korea Journal. He has also worked with the Museum of Us as an education manager and facilitator, faculty advisor for the student clubs Pagkakaisa and Infinity Beyond, and is a co-chair for Brown Faces to the Sun. He currently volunteers at various community organizations such as Alzheimer’s San Diego.

Rohanee Zapanta
Founder

Judge Rohanee Zapanta was appointed in 2018 by Governor Brown as the second Filipina American to serve as Superior Court Judge for San Diego County. She was recently awarded the Most Influential Filipina Women in the World by Filipina Women’s Network in 2023.

Judge Zapanta believes in empowering students of diverse backgrounds through celebrating core values. She created and now co-chairs the youth project – Brown Faces to the Sun, featuring cultural pillars through hip-hop music.

She co-chairs and co-founded the California Judges Association’s Ethics & Wellness Workshops for first generation law students. She teaches workshops for Silayan Filipina’s youth program and received their Legacy Award in 2023.

Judge Zapanta also sits on the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Task Force for the University of San Diego Alumni Board of Directors. She is the current Managing Chief Editor of The Bench – the official journal of the California Judges Association where she regularly contributes a self-assessment column on identity and wellness.

Meet Our Ambassadors

Athena Almeda

Roselle Bisco

Juan Emmanuel Cometa

Alexis Dauz

Jaykob Garcia

Savanna Gutierrez

Adrian Keller

Sharnae Leones

Ivan Medida

Bernadette Palma

Roswel Panel

Isabella San Filippo

Michael Sarmiento

Fatima Sayre

Ko Torres

OUR SPONSORS

Brown Faces to the Sun (BFTTS) is sponsored by the internationally renowned Filipina Women’s Network (FWN), a global organization that promotes diversity and celebrates Filipinx Identity all over the world, and Silayan Filipina, a national organization with the core set of values of Education, Empowerment, Community Engagement, and Cultural Appreciation.

GIVE US A HAND

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