Barrio Fiesta Presenters

Mafé Brooks is the Programs Coordinator of the FSU International Student Center.  She is also the FSU Filipino Student Association Faculty Advisor.  Her international experience includes the following: coordinating international trips & events at the International Education Programs, University of California - Riverside; teaching English as a Second Language at the Vietnamese Refugee Camp in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines; and working as coordinator and language instructor for the Associated Resources in Management & Development.

Atty. Valentin Flores Dagani, Jr. is the President of Primestate Realty in Orlando, Florida.  He is one of the founding members of several Filipino and Asian organizations such as:  the Asian-American Chamber of Commerce, the Fil-Am of Osceola County, The Order of the Knights of Rizal - Central Florida Chapter and was the founding chairman of the Council For Filipino-American Organizations of Central Florida.  He is also the past Overall Commander for the Knights of Rizal - United States.

Leilani Fontanilla, MA, BSN, RN is the Nursing Educator for Florida Hospital in Orlando, Florida.  She is the current Chairman of the Council for Filipino-American Organizations of Central Florida and was the founding President of the Bayanihan International Ladies Organization.  Ms. Fontanilla is a second-generation Filipina-American raised in Miami, Florida and currently residing in Orlando, Florida.

Aurora Hansen is a former member of the internationally renowned Philippine Bayanihan Dance Troupe.  She is the past President of the Big Bend Fil-Am Association and currently works at the Palmer-Munroe Community Center.  Ms. Hansen is the Dance Coordinator of the FSA's Indak Pilipino Dance Troupe as well as the organization's Community Advisor.

One Vo1ce is a Filipina R&B group from the California-based Asian label Kamikaze Records. The young quartet consists of Monica Castillo, Melissa Ruiz and sisters Marie and Mae Ceralvo.  The girls burst onto the music scene with their catchy MTV-friendly hit "When U Think About Me."  Their blend of R& B and high NRG have garnered them a strong, youthful audience.  The group's second album is slated for release this summer 2001.  

Caroline Picart is a philosopher and former molecular embryologist educated in the Philippines, England and the U.S. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Humanities and English at Florida State University.  She has authored a number of books and published articles in social and political philosophy, aesthetics, feminism and philosophy, philosophy/sociology of science, film criticism, and phenomenology, as well as some 80+ popular pieces on Philippine art and culture as a columnist in various Korean and U.S. newspapers and magazines. She is also an artist who has done exhibitions in the U.S., Korea and the Philippines, and is a ballroom enthusiast who has taught and competed.