BENJAMIN DE GUZMAN

PROFILES

Director, Mayor's Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs 

BENJAMIN DE GUZMAN

he /him

FAMILY ORIGIN

Batangas +  Negros Occidental 

EDUCATION 

BA, Mass Communications + Spanish Literature, University of California, Berkeley

ACHIEVEMENTS 

2019 TOFA awardee; 2019 Capital Pride Hero, Washington, DC (TOFA)

Being Filipino means accepting the legacy of ancestors from the Philippines who came here and across the diaspora with a history of resilience and struggle, and a rich culture of language, arts, and more. As Benigno Aquino said, "The Filipino is worth dying for." 

We've made amazing strides in recent years in terms of increased representation in many facets of American public life, but there's a lot more work to do to amplify that representation even more.

I firmly believe that my role is to serve the public by making unique connections between and among communities to build common cause.

There are lots of aphorisms quotes that I rely on for wisdom and comfort. A former boss is fond of saying, "Keep it movin,'" and I use that as a guiding principle for the work I do as a public servant.