It all started over adobo and sinigang. In 2016, a group of young Filipinx-Canadian professionals gathered around a table, sharing stories and sharing food. The conversation turned to something we all felt deeply: the need for a new narrative. We talked about representation, about opportunity, about the gaps we saw between the rich cultural heritage we grew up with and the limited ways Filipinx identity was being portrayed in Canada. That evening, over comfort food and honest conversation, RISE Tribe was born.
We knew we had networks, skills, and a burning desire to create something meaningful. We knew the next generation of Filipinx-Canadian youth deserved better than the stereotypes and limitations we'd encountered. So we made a commitment: to leverage everything we had to inspire change, to build community, and to create tangible opportunities that would reshape, reimagine, and redefine what it means to be Filipinx in Canada.
Our Mission
RISE Tribe exists to empower the next generation of Filipinx-Canadian youth. We do this through three pillars: community, mentorship, and creative and business opportunities. We believe that when young Filipinx Canadians see themselves reflected in positive, powerful ways—when they have access to mentors who understand their unique experiences, and when they're given real opportunities to develop their talents—everything changes.
Our mission isn't just about representation for representation's sake. It's about reconstruction. It's about taking the narratives that have limited us and building something better, something truer, something that honours both our Filipino heritage and our Canadian identity. We're here to prove that you don't have to choose between the two, and that being Filipinx-Canadian is something to celebrate, not hide.
Who We Are
We are artists, entrepreneurs, educators, creatives, and professionals. We are first-generation and second-generation. We are dreamers and doers who remember what it felt like to not see ourselves in the rooms where decisions were made, and we're determined to change that for the youth coming up behind us.
RISE Tribe is a collective of Filipinx-Canadian individuals who believe in the power of community. We've built our organization on the understanding that we rise together—that when one of us succeeds, we all benefit, and when we create opportunities, we create them with intention and care. We're not a faceless institution. We're your ate, your kuya, your tita and tito who want to see you thrive.
Since 2016, we've grown from that initial dinner table conversation into an established community organization that serves Filipinx-Canadian youth across the country. We've created programs, built partnerships, and developed opportunities that didn't exist before. But at our core, we're still that same group of people who believe that change begins with an idea and the willing desire to ignite it.
Who We Serve
We exist for Filipinx-Canadian youth who are ready to step into their power. Whether you're a creative looking for your first professional opportunity, a student exploring your cultural identity, or a young professional seeking mentorship and community, RISE Tribe is here for you.
We serve the youth who have felt caught between worlds, who have struggled to explain their hyphenated identity, who have been told to tone down their accent or their ambition. We serve the talented, the hungry, the curious, and the committed. We serve those who are ready to reshape the narrative—not just for themselves, but for everyone who comes after.
Our community is built on inclusion and understanding. We recognize that the Filipinx-Canadian experience is not monolithic. Our youth come from different regions of the Philippines, different economic backgrounds, different family structures, and different parts of Canada. This diversity is our strength, and we create space for all of these experiences within our tribe.
Our Values
Everything we do is guided by four core values that shape how we show up, how we build, and how we serve:
- Community: We believe in the power of collective action and mutual support. We rise together, celebrate together, and build together. No one succeeds alone, and we intentionally create spaces where Filipinx-Canadian youth can connect, collaborate, and belong.
- Pride: We celebrate Filipinx culture, heritage, and identity without apology. From our food to our languages, our history to our contemporary contributions, we wear our identity with pride and encourage our youth to do the same.
- Mentorship: We are committed to paying it forward. Every opportunity we create is designed with mentorship at its core, because we know the transformative power of having someone who believes in you and invests in your growth.
- Cultural Identity: We honour the complexity of being Filipinx-Canadian. We create space for exploration, questioning, and celebration of what this hyphenated identity means, recognizing that cultural identity is both deeply personal and powerfully collective.
Our Vision
We envision a Canada where Filipinx youth see themselves reflected in every industry, every creative space, and every leadership table. We envision a future where being Filipinx-Canadian is immediately associated with excellence, creativity, and innovation. We envision communities where our youth don't have to choose between their heritage and their ambitions, where they can be fully themselves and be celebrated for it.
This vision drives everything we do. From RISE Academy, our paid internship program that provides real-world experience in the creative and business arts, to our community events and mentorship initiatives, we're building the future we want to see. We're not waiting for permission or for someone else to create opportunities. We're doing it ourselves, together, one program and one young person at a time.
The conversation that started over adobo and sinigang in 2016 continues today. It continues in every youth we mentor, every opportunity we create, and every barrier we break down. It continues in you. Because RISE Tribe isn't just about us—it's about all of us, rising together to redefine what's possible for Filipinx Canadians. Let's all rise.