Andrew Cabatian Aggabao

Despite unexpectedly experiencing most of my graduate career fully online, I learned about applying systems-lenses to policy making and business stewardship, community-based participatory research and organizing, transitioning to a just economy, and environmental justice imperatives. I focused on a wide range of topics such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy trends, philanthropy organizational theories of change, the prison industrial complex, anti-Indigenous racism on Turtle Island as a public health crisis, and how Queer and Trans People of Color organize community spaces in San Francisco. More importantly, I practiced deeper self-reflection and solidarity with my peers and other communities.

I was a Student Representative, member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Student Advisory Committee, and a founder of the Queersidio and Asian and Pacific Islander Student Resource Groups. I co-planned town halls, community joy hours, and other discussions; and I advocated for empowering student voice in PGS institutional policy making.

I am grateful to have learned with some passionate and empowering instructors, and with incredibly fierce and thoughtful peers. I am lucky to be moving forward with some of them to build a more regenerative business together.