From the San Mateo County Office of Community Affairs:
In honor of Immigrant Heritage Month, we are celebrating bridge-builders—leaders whose work uplifts immigrant communities and supports immigrant inclusion. Meet Aileen Cassinetto:
“I’m a first generation immigrant, and also the daughter and granddaughter of first generation immigrants from the Philippines. I was appointed San Mateo County Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2022, and currently serve as Commissioner on the Status of Women for the county. I co-founded Paloma Press in 2016 which is the first Southeast Asian publishing house on the peninsula.
“My work has always been to make space for all of our stories— what we are to one another given our personal and shared histories, as well as future shared spaces. American culture is still evolving, as San Mateo County is evolving, and we need all of our stories if we are to have more balanced and more accurate narratives of our lived contexts.
“It’s our stories and our ability to move hearts and minds, to lift together as we rise together, that will help us forge the kind of community that we can be proud to pass on to the next generation. That is really what the work is about.”
Aileen Cassinetto 