PIDCI’s 2024 Grand Marshal is Tondo girl now asset management professional Charina Amunategui
By Cristina DC Pastor
The 2024 PIDCI Grand Marshal is Charina Amunategui, a Tondo Girl who came of age in Canada, and moved to New York 10 years ago. She now works as executive director of Business Execution at MUFG Investor Services, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, one of the world’s largest banks.
Charina was introduced to the big guns of the Filipino community in New York on January 18 as the 2024 Grand Marshal who will be leading and lending glamor to the Philippine Independence Day parade on Madison Avenue this coming June.
“This is such an honor,” she told an audience of about a 100 that gathered at the Graybar by Grand Central Station. “Thanks for believing in me.”
The audience dressed in business suits was led by Consul General Senen Mangalile and his wife Ma. Fe Mangalile, as well as past and current officers of PIDCI or the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. with Arman David as its new president.
Charina is also currently completing her MBA at Yale University, specializing in Asset Management, where she was awarded a scholarship of merit for the Executives program. She previously participated in the Global Network for Advance Management program at Oxford University. She has 20 years experience in asset management operations across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Bermuda, according to her bio.
She is chair of the 100 Women in Finance New York MidCareer Bridge, where she “leads efforts to provide women with the tools and resources needed for career progression.”
“With a focus on building a pipeline of future iconic female leaders, she leads the organization in offering professional development, leadership coaching, and peer engagement programs,” states her resume.
She is a treasurer on the board of Inspiring Girls USA, where she said she aims to “drive positive change.”
Moving to Canada
Charina was born and raised in Tondo, a populous district in Manila where struggling families live in poverty.
When she was 14, her family immigrated to Canada.
“One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do was pick up and leave the Philippines,” she told the PIDCI audience. “That was over 30 years ago and it does feel like it was only yesterday.”
In Canada, she said her family felt like they didn’t belong.
“I sounded different we all sounded different, my siblings and I. We come from a different socio economic place because we were immigrants. It was a time of fear, instability.”
Until she came to a crossroads and had to make a choice: “Do I choose to be afraid or hide behind…or do I stand proud and walk and talk and sound the way I did and put out there what my parents taught me that the most important thing was love for family, caring for each other and generosity and good health.”
She said being Grand Marshal is an opportunity to serve the community. It is a time to “serve as an example to all the young generations out there and the generations to follow (and to share) our wonderful culture and heritage” with the world.
PIDCI President Arman David welcomed Charina as the 2024 PIDCI Grand Marshal for the 126th Philippine Independence Day Parade.
He said in a statement to The FilAm, “While Charina may be a new face to the community, she is an esteemed leader and will surely be a source of inspiration for many Filipino Americans and serves as a shining example of what can be achieved through hard work and dedication…We are thrilled to work with Charina and extend our heartfelt congratulations to her.
© The FilAm 2024
