Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

NEW YORK—The Asian American Business Development Center, a New York-based organization geared to assist minority and Asian-owned businesses to compete in the mainstream announced its 50 Outstanding Asian Americans in Business during a gala at the Hilton New York last week.

Three Filipinos in the business industry made it to the list: Dante Raul Teodoro, Founder and President of JUNO Healthcare Staffing System, Inc.; Mariels Almeda Winhoffer, Vice President at IBM and Ignacio Prats, director at Colgate Palmolive.

Winhoffer, born and raised in Manila, studied at the Assumption and graduated cum laude at Fordham University, with a dual major in Finance and Computer Science. She has been with IBM for 23 years, with 11 years of experience in the manufacturing and consumer electronic industries. As Vice President, she provides sales leaderships and direction to IBM relationship professionals in the West Region for Industrial Sector Integrated Marketing Team (IMT).

"This is such a blessing," Winhoffer told the Asian Journal after the awarding. She brought her family, husband Dr. Ernest Winhoffer and daughter Nicole to share her success. "Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of us Filipinos out there that’s why even if in my own little way, I try to drive cross geo mentorship between the US and the Philippines," she shared.

For Teodoro, a Philippine-born, New York-based entrepreneur and philanthropist, the award is an affirmation on the hard work that he and his wife have exterted towards making the business grew.

"This is very exciting. I am so lucky that a Filipino like me made it, masuwerte kasi nakasingit tayo,"(We are lucky, we got through) Teodoro shares with a laugh. "To be recognized among the many entrepreneurs, technocrats and businessmen is really something. More than anything else, I think it is God’s grace and mercy. He has always been good to us."

Considered as one of the most successful Filipino-American businessmen in healthcare staffing today, Teodoro founded JUNO Healthcare Staffing, a company that recruits RNs, LPNs, CNAs and allied healthcare professionals and deploys them to healthcare facilities on a full-time, part-time, per diem basis or travel assignments.

What could be their secret?