Through Advocacy, These Filipino Women Are Creating an Impact

For this year’s International Women’s Month, Vogue Philippines invites leading and rising Filipina women to share their stories. Through advocacy, these three Filipinas are showing their heart and strength while fighting for a cause.

In today’s world, more global issues become more and more pressing as each day passes. Just recently, the United Nations weather agency warned of a record climate imbalance. According to the 2025 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, about 673 million people faced hunger in 2024. Some might say that the fight is hopeless, and yet Filipino women continue to make a difference in their own way. From mental health care to building sustainable systems, these three Filipino women are making an impact in their communities.

Suzanna Yuzon

If you like to follow global pageants, Suzanna Yuzon may be a familiar name. Yuzon is a two-time winner of the Mrs. Thailand pageant and went on to become the Mrs. World pageant winner in 2003. And from being a pageant queen, she is now empowering young girls to find their own beauty through Miss Possibilities.

A pageant dedicated to young women and girls with special needs, Miss Possibilities aims to promote inclusion, confidence, and self-worth. Founded by Yuzon along with other parents of children with special needs, the idea came from a pageant she had seen in the United States. “When my daughters were still young, I saw a poster for a community pageant,” she shares. “And on the poster, I saw kids that looked like my daughter. And I was hoping that we could do it in the Philippines or Asia.”

Fast forward 10 years, Miss Possibilities continues to flourish, offering not only the experience to compete in a pageant, but also fashion shows, empowerment and life skills workshops, sensitivity training, and advocacy campaigns.

Through Miss Possibilities, Yuzon also saw how women work together for a cause. “I really admire so many women that I see, that I get to work with, and all the women that work with Miss Possibilities,” she says. “They come from different walks of life, so some are used to working in the government, with NGOs, some are career-oriented, they’re working in big corporations. Some are housewives, some are homeschoolers. We have so many different moms, but we all come together for this one cause, and then they all bring their separate talents.”

Ahtisa Manalo

Also coming from the world of pageantry, Ahtisa Manalo is known as a beauty queen, businesswoman, and actress who won Miss Universe 2025. She also previously placed as first runner-up in Miss International 2018. But beyond the crown, her advocacy extends to youth empowerment, education, and LGBTQIA+ inclusion, particularly through her work with Alon Akademie, which focuses on teaching children global citizenship, social skills, and an entrepreneurial mindset.

Amina Swanepoel

In healthcare, Amina Evangelista Swanepoel is making an impact as a Filipina-American sexual and reproductive health advocate. She is also the executive director of Roots of Health, a Philippines-based NGO she co-founded in 2009. At Roots of Health, she leads daily operations, fundraising, and strategic planning, providing reproductive health education and services to thousands of people in Palawan. “We believe every Filipina deserves the information and care she needs to make decisions about her own life, including if and when she wants to have children,” she shares.

At times, she finds the advocacy work overwhelming, but the “quiet victories” keep her going. She recalls the time when the organization realized that it had helped 600 women access contraception. “In that season, 600 was not just a data point; it was 600 women who suddenly had the breathing room to dream,” she says. Today, she proudly shares that the number has grown to 17,000 women. “Each of those women also represents a household where poverty becomes less inevitable, where education is more within reach, and where families can begin to move from simply surviving toward something closer to thriving.”

“When a woman has the ability to decide what happens with her own body, it often shapes everything that follows, her education, her career, her family, and her sense of dignity,” she continues, “That single choice can quietly change the course of a life.”

Ayesha Vera-Yu

She was once an investment banker in New York City, but now she has turned into a social impact innovator as the CEO and co-founder of ARK Solves. The award-winning social impact venture is making an impact by solving hunger in rural communities, helping them to secure food, health, income, and a sustainable future.

She credits much of ARK Solves’ achievements to women and being a woman. Her mother, Peregrine Vera, taught her to give what she’s not using and to share what she has in excess. In her own family, she saw how her mother and sisters supported each other with their dreams. “What I learned from my mom felt natural, so sharing is a cornerstone of our food security program,” she says. The program operates as a vegetable exchange, where families bring three kinds of vegetables from their backyards and, in exchange, take home their fair share of over 30 kinds of vegetables contributed by each participating family. In just 16 weeks, the program eliminates hunger, creates food security, and income for the families.

For her, community is one of the keys to making a difference. “If women came together and supported each other, we would be unstoppable in what we can do or contribute to ourselves, families, communities, and nations.”

Karen Davila

With over three decades of experience, Karen Davila is a renowned Filipino broadcast journalist, news anchor, and television host She is a highly awarded journalist and serves as the first UN Women National Goodwill Ambassador for the Philippines, which she was appointed in 2023. As an ambassador, her focus has been on eliminating gender-based violence, promoting women in leadership and STEM, and supporting economic empowerment, notably through initiatives like Agapay Nanay.

Maria Nilad

Inside Chapterhouse in Quezon City, Maria Nilad finds a home for her counselling services. As a writer and counselor, she provides trauma-informed counseling and mental health care for activists, organizers, and youth, helping them to process grief, eco-anxiety, and burnout. These specific interests are rooted in her own experiences with personal mental health issues and her work in social justice, environmental activism, and human rights.

“I couldn’t help but notice, coming from a mental health background, that so many people are being re-traumatized in a way by being part of these movement spaces,” she says. She observes that this is due in part to the pressure of being in a movement. “The stakes of the movement are so large, so you can’t take breaks, right?” she says. “That’s why I specifically want to offer more mental health services for activists.”

For those who want to pursue their own advocacies, Nilad has one message. “When it comes to pursuing what you’re passionate about and having a cause to fight for, a lot of people get discouraged because of how large the world is and how already messed up it is,” she says. “But if you are someone who wonders about what you can do, it’s already a calling.”

By DAPHNE SAGUN. Photographs by SHAIRA LUNA. Digital Associate Editor: CHELSEA SARABIA. Produced by JULIAN RODRIGUEZ. Videographer and Video Editor: Lynyrd Matias. Photographer’s Assistants: Emil Lansangan and Karlo Baylon. Videographer’s Assistant and 2nd Camera: Emmanuel Santos. Multimedia artist: Bea Lu. Content Writers: Daphne Sagun, Lawrence Alba, and Hyacinth Aranda. Special thanks to Single Origin.