Filipino American History Month (FAHM) has been celebrated in the United States during the month of October since 1991. The lead volunteer for this celebration in metro Atlanta points to a passionate and selfless individual. She typically works past midnight orchestrating volunteers and planning programs catering to different walks of life in the community.
Jane Rolen has been organizing various local events celebrating Filipino American History Month since 2019. Despite a busy career as Management and Program Analyst with the Social Security Administration, Jane also serves as the President of Philippine American Chamber of Commerce Georgia (PACCGA).
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
“I enjoy giving back to the community and helping in whatever way that I can to inspire the young generations,” said Rolen.
With the help of trusted friends as volunteers, Jane typically plans a month-long series of activities celebrating Filipino history in October.
“I want to share the rich history and sacrifices of Filipino pioneers and heroes with mainstream Americans and young Filipino Americans who grow up here.”
This year’s FAHM celebration recorded a packed and busy 7 community events covering faith, arts, business, culinary and dance.
She has boosted PACCGA membership recruitment and restructured the organization to better serve the entrepreneurs and small business owners. She emphasized that PACCGA is not a 3 Ps organization, meaning, “we are not an organization of “Parties, Parades and Pageants,” instead, we are a 3 Cs organization - “Conveyors of good practices, Catalyst for change, and Champions for success.” More importantly, she strengthened the organization’s financial standing through membership recruitment and fundraising.
Under her leadership, PACCGA currently has over 82 members and 12 corporate members, which is a huge leap from 20 members when she took over in January 2021.
Jane also regularly hosts a podcast catering to Filipinos diaspora living in Georgia. “Usapang Pinoy” podcast dwells into community news, healthcare updates, business information, and important community information that affects the community.
Usapang Pinoy has grown in popularity and has regular listeners across the globe including far away places such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Japan.
Her tireless efforts are often double-edged as she often received harsh criticisms for her work.
“It hurts deeply when you are striving hard for the community, yet you get criticized and misunderstood. However, I realized from early on that I cannot please everyone in the process in order to get the job done,” said Jane with a smile.
There are an estimated 50,110 Filipinos living in metro Atlanta and Georgia. It is considered as one of the 5 largest AAPI communities, according to latest data from 2021 Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Tagalog is amongst the top 10 Asian languages spoken at home other than English in Georgia. Filipino households earned an average of $101,157 which is ranked the top three amongst AAPI median household income in Georgia.
Jane will soon be stepping down as President of PACCGA at the end of 2023. When asked of her future endeavors, she was quick to add, “I already have plans to continue serving the community in other ways that I can make the most impact. Stay tuned for announcements about my new plans.”
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