01/04/2026
It is truly an honor to work with a woman like you, Teacher Joyce Anne Villafania ๐๐๐ค
On the last day of International Women's Month, I'm breaking the glass ceiling on the gender gap on self-promotion. Sharing achievements is about recognizing facts, not bragging and exaggeration, that highlight efforts.
I'm Joyce from the Philippines. I'm a Filipino woman in science, education, and development for multiply disabled children and their families and communities. I'm a Filipino woman for other Asian women changemakers.
As a Speech-Language Pathologist and Reading Specialist, I help children with disabilities and their families. I bring specializations in my tele- and in-person practice. I'm the first in the profession to specialize in visual impairment, deafblindness, and multiple disabilities being a scholar of Educational Leadership Program of Perkins School for the Blind, USA who is a global leader in education and services for these children. I'm in the first cohort of professionals in Augmentative Alternative Communication Certification of the University of the Philippines. I'm certified by the WHO Collaborating Centre Gunma University, Japan in Interprofessional Collaboration.
Also a Community Developer, I advocate to equalize the opportunities of rural communities to live and thrive. I'm an itinerant consultant of Theragrow Therapy Center at Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur which is a two-hour plane travel from my permanent residence in the country's capital. I'm a volunteer and partner therapist of Parent Advocates for the Visually Impaired Children Pavic Phils, a national organization, that allowed me to collaborate with different community stake holders locally and abroad. With them, I have trained families, teachers, and government leaders in 20 out of the 82 Philippine provinces, as well as families in Indonesia. I'm part of the founding teams that collaborated with local governments in establishing free rehabilitation programs - Naga City, Camarines Sur and Quezon City, Metro Manila - that received numerous national recognitions.
As an educator, I collaborate with the education sector with my neurodiversity-affirming approach teaching and learning. I'm heading the related services of The Steppingstone Progressivist School on communication, literacy, and behavior.
I've lived through an earthquake with a temporary disability in the past. I founded Kasambag, a social innovation of community action on the intersection on disability inclusion, women equality, and disaster resilience. Its 2-year impact is recognized by Brown University and Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, and felt by 5 local communities and organizations, like Community College of Angeles, Pampanga, and 102 Filipinos all over the country. I hope current communications with communities to serve more Filipinos.
As a woman, I share the vision with Wedu, an international women's organization, of "a world where half of all leaders are women". I've mentored women leaders from four Asian countries.
I have also been recognized in 2025 by the Quesci High School Alumni Association with an Achievement Award in Community Service.
More than sharing my efforts, I, more importantly share the idea to further the social impact of my achievements - amplifying the power of people. I have shared this before, but I would like to share to a wider audience, "If we amplify the power of individuals, we create strong networks. These networks impact children with multiple disabilities who will better the world for everyone else". I'm more than ready to work with you on this.
