At Home sa Abroad: Making space as Filipina lawyers in the United States

MANILA, Philippines – Living as a woman requires a constant effort to make space for one’s self. When you’re a migrant, or a foreigner in a new country, gender can layer onto other factors that can make you fall behind typically more privileged groups.

Think of Taylor Swift’s “The Man.” Sometimes, even if you run as fast as possible, you can’t help but think if you’d get to where you were going quicker if you were a man instead.

For Pinay Powerhouse, a collective of Filipina lawyers in the United States, gender is no hurdle in making space in the American legal industry.

For Women’s Month 2024, At Home sa Abroad: Stories of Overseas Filipinos features Pinay Powerhouse, a women’s collective focused on empowering Filipina lawyers, future attorneys, and legal professionals as “leaders in the law.” Rappler reporter Michelle Abad sits down with Christine Start, Pinay Powerhouse co-founder, and Kelsey Jandoc, one of the collective’s junior members.

Start and Jandoc talk about navigating as ethnic and gender minorities in a white male-dominated industry, and the need for young Filipina lawyers, and lawyers-to-be, to see women just like them advancing in their careers.

According to the American Bar Association, almost all people of color are underrepresented in the legal profession, with 86% of all lawyers were non-Hispanic whites in 2020. The ABA also found that white male attorneys comprised 71% of lawyers who earned the highest pay that year.

Catch the episode on Monday, March 18, at 7 pm, Manila time. – Rappler.com

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