Our Mission
The purpose of FIND, Inc. shall be to promote unity and cooperation of Filipino students at colleges, universities, vocational, and technical schools, or any other institutions of higher education.
The goals of FIND, Inc.
To offer channel for dialogue and action
To promote and preserve the Filipino culture
To further awareness of issues pertinent to the Filipino community
To act as a catalyst to pool the efforts of Filipino organizations
Notes from the FIND, Inc. 1995 Fall Dialogue program:
The Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue, Incorporated (FIND, Inc.) is a student-led organization comprised of Filipino-related collegiate organizations from Boston to Greensboro. FIND, Inc. was established in the spring of 1992 with the mission to promote unity and cooperation among Filipino students enrolled in institutions of higher education. FIND, Inc. hosts semi-annual national conferences for college students in hopes of preserving the Filipino culture, spreading awareness of Filipino and Filipino American issues, and promoting dialogue and action in the Filipino American community.
Founded on April 11, 1992, the Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue (FIND) stands as a symbol to the ethnic consciousness presently seen on university campuses. With the growing number of Filipino organizations at these institutions, there exists an inherent “desire to know” about one’s culture.
Ranging from the personal search and identification to the large scale social awareness, FIND Inc. is an organization that opens the door to communication and collaboration among its members. It offers those interested an opportunity to see what else is out there: a broad perspective to the increasing Filipino presence in America.
Aware of a strong but fragmented Filipino presence on the East Coast, college students from the Northern seaboard attended a dinner sponsored by KASAMA in April 1991 at Yale University. These college students discussed the collaboration of a formal network that would tie together smaller networks in the coastal regions. A group of enthusiastic students volunteered to form a Steering Committee for the formation of the East Coast Network of Colleges (ECNC). This steering Committee (SC) met several times in the New England area prior to a second conference held at New York University (NYU). A constitution was created incorporating the SC’s vision of an organization that would accommodate the need of the Filipino student.
The International Filipino Association at NYU conference was structured to further the networking efforts and eventually facilitated the ratification of a regional network. The name FIND was chosen to illustrate a continuing process of student unification. An official Steering Committee was elected with representatives from each of the six established districts, mainly in the Northern region of the East Coast.
A ratified constitution and bylaws of FIND Inc. were complete in time for the first FIND Conference held at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) on April 11, 1992. FIND became a reality.