Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

Her dedication, service and leap of faith.

"I WAS not named ‘Faith’ for nothing," said Faith Bautista, President and CEO of the National Asian American Coalition (NAAC), formerly known as Mabuhay Alliance. And this is true.

Having served with the community since 1987, Bautista established Mabuhay Alliance, a national HUD-approved homeowner, small business and consumer advocacy organization serving the Pan Asian community. Starting in San Diego in 1987, Mabuhay Alliance is now known as National Asian American Coalition and since then opened five new offices in the past year, giving them a presence in San Diego, Daly City/San Francisco, Milpitas/Silicon Valley, Reno, Las Vegas and a regulatory office in Washington, DC.

She advocates in the halls of Congress, in the California legislature and in front of key federal legislators such as the Federal Reserve, FDIC, FTC, FCC and SEC and among America’s Fortune 500 corporations, as a major voice for the Asian American community. She is a member of the San Diego Gas & Electric Community Advisory Committee, Office of Thrift supervision Minority Depository Institutions Advisory Committee and sits on the Low-Income Oversight Board for the California Public Utilities Commission. Through her leadership, she has gained the support of Corporate America in reaching out to minority groups and has been a leading advocate for low-income and underserved communities.

Bautista explained that the reason why she formed Mabuhay Alliance was the realization that there was no chance for the Asian community, particularly the Filipino-Americans, to talk to legislators, federal regulators and corporate America. "Prior to Mabuhay Alliance, there was no opening at all—there was no chance to talk to Bernanke (US Federal Reserve Chairman), or James Diamond, the JP Morgan Chase CEO," said Bautista.

"The real reason (also) is to be the voice of the Filipinos," she said and added, "Filipinos are not recognized as a good minority group. When they talk about Asians, they would most likely think about the Japanese or Chinese."

Her days are filled with meetings with top directors and official in government or private corporations, conferences and seminars. Still, Bautista has shown no signs of slowing down. In fact, this Saturday, October 16, their organization will be holding their 7th Annual Economic Development Conference at the South San Francisco Conference Center.

"We have a gathering of 30 Fortune 500 corporations at this conference, as well as federal regulators," said Bautista. "This is a gathering where you can build policy-making from the ownership, especially with what is happening lately."