JAENA RAE CABRERA (SHE/HER/SIYA) is Filipino American Center Program Manager at the San Francisco Public Library, where she focuses on community building and education for the Filipino diaspora. At SFPL, Jaena coordinates programs, events and exhibits, as well as conducts outreach in the community. Jaena is also co-director of the 8th Filipino American International Book Festival in San Francisco.

She holds an Associate’s degree in Philippine Studies from City College of San Francisco, a Bachelor’s in journalism from San Francisco State University, and a Master’s in Library and Information Science from Syracuse University. Before becoming a librarian, she was a web producer for Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.

Currently, Jaena is immediate past president of the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association, where she also served as treasurer. She is also a chair of the APALA Literature Awards Committee. Jaena is editor-in-chief of WOC+Lib, Curation Corps team lead for the The Palace Project, and an editor for the journal, In the Library with the Lead Pipe.

Her interests include intersectionality, diversity, and equity in LIS, mental health, and the Filipino diaspora. She regularly mentors early career librarians and LIS students. In her rare off time, Jaena volunteers with various Filipino organizations and writes for Mahalaya SF, a Filipinx-American newspaper based in the Bay Area.

POSITIONALITY

I am a Filipina American cisgender woman with Ilocano and Tagalog ancestry from the Philippines. My family first ventured to the United States as sakadas in Hawaii, before settling in Carson, a suburb of Los Angeles, CA. I am a second-generation college student, and the first to earn a master’s degree. I came to a greater appreciation of my background in college, where the lack of diversity forced me to take a more introspective and critical look at my culture, heritage, and history. The absence of Filipino education I received growing up is directly related to the colonial mindset many Filipinos still possess with the United States. Despite being the third largest Asian population in the US, Filipinos remain largely misrepresented and underrepresented in popular culture and in many institutions and industries. My work as a community advocate and librarian is two-fold: To uplift and educate the community and others about our culture and history, and to preserve that culture and history for us, by us, for future generations. I am also cognizant of my minority position in the field of librarianship, and this understanding informs my APALA work through advocacy, mentorship, and leadership.

 Program Manager, Filipino American Center, San Francisco Public Library
 Co-Director of the 2026 Filipino American International Book Festival
 President 2023-2025, Asian Pacific American Librarians Association
Co-Chair, APALA Lit Award Committee
Head of The Palace Project Curation Corps
 Editor-in-Chief, WOC+Lib
 Editor, In The Library With The Lead Pipe
 Writer, Mahalaya SF
 Secretary, FANHS-SF
 Pronouns: she, her, siya
 Want to chat? Calendly me.