Prioritizing Women Who Pave the Path

By Leah Lizarondo

When I was sixteen, living in the Philippines, I opened my dad’s National Geographic and read about New York City. The glossy images immediately sparked my imagination and I tore out the map of Manhattan, pasted it on my wall with the promise to myself that one day, I would live in that big, bustling metropolis, awash with energy, diversity and creativity.

Fast forward about a decade; I’ve packed two suitcases and boarded a plane to travel 8500 miles from home to follow that dream. A dream that would drastically change once confronted with the reality that greeted me in what I thought was the utopia that is America — one not of glossy imagery, but of stark gaps, inequities, and divides.

I was struck by the fancy restaurants with white tablecloths packed next to people who are homeless, going without food. In that gap, I saw an opportunity to contribute — to bring a solution informed by my roots, my experience and my appreciation from this interconnected world. I co-founded an organization in Pittsburgh to close the gap between excess and need, food waste and hunger.

But between parenting my children and growing an organization, I needed help. I turned to my own mother, who emigrated from the Philippines — for me — to support my dream and help care for my children. I am a first generation immigrant and this year I will have lived in the United States for as long as I lived in the Philippines; but I have a hard time calling myself American despite creating a new home for myself and my family here. This feeling is especially amplified now as Asian hate crimes are on the rise. More than ever, I hold on to my heritage strongly.

This Mother’s Day, nestled within Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I’m grateful for the sacrifices women like my mother not only made to grant the next generation the opportunity to build and create, but who did so in spite of systemic racism, rampant sexism and through an unprecedented phenomena like a global pandemic.

Growing up, my mother provided me the foundation to grow and now, once again, she is providing that same foundation and support so that I may realize a new dream. As I work to solve the related problems of food waste, hunger, and environmental sustainability, I stand on the work of my mother, my grandmother, and the countless Filipino and Asian women who came before me.

The pandemic hit everyone, and while many felt the impacts harder than others, we have all experienced the physical and emotional toll of COVID-19. To make the realities of the past year even more difficult, people of color have suffered the worst consequences of the pandemic, are the focus of racial injustice and hate and are bearing the brute impacts of systems built to keep them down.

Today and every day, I am proud to be Asian and Filipino.

I wear this heritage with pride and I want others to see that they can build their dream too; and you don’t have to do it alone. As we begin to build back better, we must prioritize the women caring for our families, our communities and our cultures.

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Leah Lizarondo is the CEO and founder of Food Rescue Hero, a social enterprise that aims to fight hunger and promote sustainability, and a member of the Vital Voices Global Leadership Network.