“Through her honesty, creativity, and positivity, Ruby created a space that felt like a home where everyone belonged and no one would be judged. Working with Ruby and watching her speak was an amazing experience. On behalf of the Cultural Affairs Commission, we were honored to have her.”
School / University
As a speaker, I create dynamic presentations and motivational speeches that help inspire and empower students to step into their highest potential to be conscious leaders of tomorrow.
As an educator, I design learning experiences that help fashion students understand how to participate in creating a sustainable fashion industry with an intersectional approach. This means that I couple sustainability education with social justice issues such as race, class, and gender. As a journalist and communications professional, I also teach students how to use communication tools to better create global awareness about the sustainability movement.
As a proud daughter of immigrants, I seek to be a mirror to those whose upbringings are similar to mine, so that they can understand the vastness of their potential, regardless of their starting points. As an Asian-American and woman of color who has worked across the USA, Europe, and Asia, I offer a global view to national conversations, helping to expand the horizons of students so they can have the courage to dream and do big.
Offerings:
Keynote Speaker
Guest Panelist or Panel Moderator
Workshop Facilitator
Webinar Producer and Moderator for Learning Experiences
(ie. Online Panels with Industry Professionals)
Course Instructor
Contact me to learn more about how we can work together.
How I Contribute:
Whether I’m speaking at a high school classroom, university, or presenting at New York Fashion Week, my intention is the same: to be a mirror for my audience, and to reflect onto them their greatest potential to change themselves, and thus, the world around them.
I started my career as the only woman of color in a Black and Asian spoken word collective. We toured college campuses across the United States, with performances that interrogated issues of race, class, and gender through the creative lens, while facilitating collaborations among multicultural student groups. After each performance, we led educational workshops to help students digest the material, and seed long-term civic engagement and community building among the student body.
I have worked with universities such as UC Berkeley, Morehouse College, Columbia University, Cornell University, as well as community colleges, and more. This experience has allowed me to work in the higher education space for over a decade as a guest speaker and workshop facilitator, and my passion for engaging students in social and environmental change through the lens of creativity has only grown since.
My past experience as a performing artist and artist educator, bridged with my more recent one as an international sustainable fashion journalist in Paris, France, equips me to create dynamic speeches, programs, and learning experiences that allow students to be both entertained and educated, while exploring national conversations from an international vantage point.
In my classes, speeches, and programs, students will gain leadership skills, personal growth anecdotes, and professional development tools that will seed not only knowledge transfer, but personal transformation.
“Young Asian Americans want voices that will fight for them, shatter stereotypes, and reveal their truths. In her work, Ruby represents this generation’s idealism and ambition with wit, fierceness, and style. She embodies all the best of young Asian America.”
Over the past decade, Ruby has spoken at hundreds of venues including:
Cornell University | The United Nations | Columbia University | Morehouse College | American University of Paris | UC Davis Yerba Buena Center for the Arts | Stanford University | UC Berkeley | UC Santa Cruz | Loyola University Chicago | San Francisco State University | Ateneo Manila | De La Salle Manila | UC Merced | Northeastern University | Florida State | YMCA of Las Vegas
Ruby Doing a Workshop at UCDavis
Ruby Doing a Lightning Talk at Pinayista Summit
“Ruby touched my heart when she spoke about representation as a Filipina American at the UniPro Summit 2016 in Seattle, WA. I firmly believe that people cannot become or aspire to be someone they can’t see. Ruby’s visibility in pursuing a career outside what we are culturally pressured to do has made it more of a reality for me and other young women to see ourselves in a multitude of roles. Especially during our current sociopolitical landscape in America, visibility and representation for women of color, Filipina Americans, and Asian Americans are more important than ever for younger generations. Thank you, Ruby, for sharing your story with us and being a visible figure young girls and women can aspire to.”
“Personal anecdotes about her career hit home for many students that attended Ruby’s workshop. Not only did this create a more intimate experience, but unlike typical guest speakers, Ruby broke the barrier between speaker and audience and made it more personal. Her anecdotes also helped transition well to her personal branding workshop. Her workshop offered a different perspective on personal branding and a compelling learning experience.”
“Ruby is a conscious voice that embodies the complexities of the human spirit and the world we live in.
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“Ruby was the best speaker to have. She was extremely open, welcoming, informative, personal, encouraging, and made sure we had a safe space to share. She is very admirable in that she is beautiful inside and out, and she aims to help other girls feel the same way so that they too, can reshape the world around them. ”