Working together for Filipino district

Winnipeg groups marching towards their goal of a Filipino district have two targets in sight: membership and new collaboration.

The Manitoba Filipino Business Council, Kultivation Festival and Mabuhay District have committed to upping their resource sharing as each organization grows and strives for a “Little Manila.”

“We all have very similar goals,” said Jackie Wild, president of the Manitoba Filipino Business Council.

Yet the three partners are distinct, she said. Nearly 100 people have become members of the business council, which provides resources and hosts events for Filipino professionals.

Kultivation Festival, an annual celebration of Filipino culture that began in 2020, draws thousands of attendees annually.

Mabuhay District became a non-profit last year; its leadership aims to create a Filipino hub of business and culture within Winnipeg.

Mabuhay District will host its first membership drive today. Three days later, the Manitoba Filipino Business Council will highlight its intentional collaboration with the district and Kultivation Festival to its annual general meeting-goers.

“We’re, right now, figuring out how we can actually lean on each other’s resources,” Wild said.

There’s already cross-pollination. Wild is the vice-chair of Mabuhay District; several people have membership or leadership positions spanning the three organizations.

Still, the groups can be siloed, mirroring a trend across dozens of Filipino associations throughout the province. Repetition happens, Wild said.

Volunteers, sponsorship and event planning will be strategically managed and distributed between the three partners moving forward. The trio will hold their first joint fundraiser later this year; details are being worked out.

It’s a break from the scarcity mindset some immigrants and their children assume when entering Canada, breeding competitiveness, Wild said.

“It’s a new, more progressive way of thinking,” said Allan Pineda, Kultivation Festival executive director. “It just makes more sense with everybody working together.”

The partnership announcement comes roughly four months ahead of Kultivation Festival’s return (Aug. 18-24).

Pineda is planning for roughly 30 different events and a larger festival wingspan. Neepawa, Brandon and Steinbach could host activities this year, he said.

Also new: Tagalog language workshops and a baking competition with Winnipeg’s Sugar Blooms and Cakes, whose bakers won The Big Bake: Holiday Food Network Canada challenge in 2022.

Kultivation Festival, Mabuhay District and Manitoba Filipino Business Council are volunteer-run. Pineda estimates he spends upwards of 100 hours on Kultivation Festival per year, on top of a full-time job and other volunteer work (he’s a Mabuhay District co-founder).

He’s hoping new resource sharing will lighten volunteers’ loads. Mabuhay District is made up of Kultivation Festival founders; still, the same groups work with each other on an individual basis, leading to unnecessary duplications, Pineda and Wild said.

“People are putting in so much work … because they believe in this idea and whole vision of the future,” Pineda said.

Mabuhay District organizers presented their idea of a Filipino hub in front of provincial ministers and Premier Wab Kinew in May 2024. Since then, they’ve conducted focus groups and gathered associations’ perspectives.

“We don’t want to get too far into design until we’ve done a considerable amount of community consultation,” said Joseph Orobia, Mabuhay District president.

As such, the 16-member board doesn’t have a concrete plan. A business council office, education centre, shops and restaurants are being considered, likely in Winnipeg’s northwest quadrant.

Orobia, an architect by trade, hopes to enlist an urban planner this fall. He suspects community funding for the project will come before government or other large investments. The district rollout could take up to 30 years, he estimated in May.

“It’s not like we’re working slow. We just want to do everything properly,” said Pineda. “We want to involve the entire community.”

Mabuhay District is selling memberships at The Forks’ second-floor event space from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. today. A one-year membership costs $25; a five-year commitment is $100. Voting rights and the chance to become a board member — shaping the proposed district’s future — is the draw, Orobia said.

Manitoba has the highest proportion of Filipinos on a per capita basis, Canada’s 2021 census shows. More than 70,000 Manitoba residents reported immigrating from the Philippines.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com

Gabrielle Piché
Reporter

Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.

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