Liezel Longboan
Start with why, as Simon Sinek tells us in his famous book.
Why have I started Tinig UK? And what do we aim to do as a social enterprise? These are the usual questions people ask me when I tell them what I do.
Our mission at Tinig UK is to empower Filipinos across the UK through reliable information and advice.
Allow me to share with you what I’ve done – with the help of our contributors, directors and supporters – in the last three years:
Helping raise the profile and issues affecting Filipino nurses and healthcare workers at the peak of the Covid pandemic
I wrote original articles that examined the statistics of Filipino nurses across the UK and the challenge of getting reliable data about their ethnicity/nationality. This article would help Filipino nurses advocate for the creation of their own Filipino ethnic category in the NHS.
I was the first Filipino journalist to write about the historic inclusion of the Filipino category in the NHS staff electronic record as a result of the lack of data on Filipino nurses during the pandemic. After Tinig UK broke the news, UK health and nursing media outlets followed suit.
Using publicly available, I mapped out where Filipino nurses and healthcare workers died during the pandemic to better understand the situation at that time.
My original pieces of research have been cited by Filipino nursing leaders Jennifer Caguioa, then BAME adviser to the NHS Chief Nursing Officer (England); Francis Fernando and Louie Horne.
Our articles have been cited by academic Dr Ella Parry-Davies, Daily Mail, and Philippine media outlets The Philippine Star and Rappler.
Helping raise the profile and shape the representation of Filipino women in Britain
During Women’s Month in March 2022, we started the series “Inspiring Filipino Women in Britain” where we featured nine outstanding Filipino women: Renee Karunungan, Cielo Tilan, Paula Braiden, Sarah Cosgriff, Viva O’Flynn, Danna Quinto, Keishia Quijano, Averil Pooten-Watan and Louie Horne.
Helping raise the profile of Filipino authors, community groups, artists and businesses across the UK
We have featured author Candy Gourlay, artist Rhine Bernardino, nurse May Parsons, cafe owner Zosima Fulwell, publicity director Maria Garbutt-Lucero, and businesses like Spoon & Rice, the Philippine British Business Council, and many other businesses and community groups.
In the last three years and true to our mission, we have been bringing the voices of Filipinos across the UK.
As we prepare for our event, Voice and Visibility for Filipino-British Women in Businesss Networking Event on 21 October at The Abbey Centre in London, I remind myself never to lose sight of our “Why.” When the community succeeds, we too as a business succeed.
Book today and meet Filipino women professionals and entrepreneurs via our Eventbrite page.
