Commissioner Kirin Macapugay

Kirin Macapugay, Commissioner

Kirin Amiling Macapugay, MSW, is an Indigenous Person born in Kalinga, Philippines. She is a mother, professor, community organizer, state appointed commissioner, and founder of several grassroots efforts to strengthen the communities she loves. In 2015, she founded Asian Pacific Islander Community Actions (APICA). She is currently  the lead professor and Program Coordinator of Human Services and Social Work at San Diego City College. In 2016 she was awarded  “Professor of the Year” by San Diego State University students, where she previously taught. In January of 2017, Kirin was the only Filipina-American honored as a “Present Day Civil Rights Woman Leader” by RISE San Diego.

Kirin served on the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture and was past Chairwoman of the Cultural Arts Commission for the City of Chula Vista. She co-founded IKAT: Indigenous Knowledge, Art, and Truth, a group of Indigenous scholars and community organizers from the Philippines. She is Chair for Made in Paradise Hills, serves on the advisory for People’s Collective for Justice and Liberation, is a mentor for San Diego Leadership Alliance fellows; and serves as a core member of San Diego Asian Pacific Islander Coalition, and FIERCE–a statewide policy forum for Filipinx-Americans. Kirin holds a Master’s in Macro Social Work and Bachelor’s in Psychology from San Diego State University, and a Certificate in Indigenous People’s Rights from Columbia University. You may learn more about her at kirinmac.com.