I was involved with FIND when I lived in Boston in my early 20′s and it was life changing for me in so many ways. I immersed myself with Filipino American students and although I did not have a similar upbringing as they did, it did not hinder me from becoming involved and to learn more about the Filipino American experience. I helped organize the District conference at Harvard University in 1999 as a member of the Programming Committee and spent countless hours developing the program of the conference and speakers to be chosen. “Balikbayan” Conference raised the bar for future FIND conferences! (Lorial Crowder)

FIND, Inc. on Facebook

FIND website

Find Conference – February 26-28 University of Maryland at College Park

FIND is the Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue. Our purpose is to promote unity and cooperation of Filipino students. Our goals are:

to offer a channel for dialogue and action
to promote and preserve Filipino culture
to further awareness of issues pertinent to the Filipino community
to offer support to Filipinos studying at East Coast institutions

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) has 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 in April 1992. FIND became a reality. (notes from 1995 UVA dialogue program)

Established 1991

At a conference sponsored by KASAMA, at Yale University in April of 1991, Filipino college students from the Northern seaboard discussed the formation of a formal network capable of linking East Coast institutions. Realizing the importance of such a network, a group of students designed a Constitution to provide an efficient, effective structure whereby students could interact to discuss issues, to mobilize our communities, to celebrate our culture and heritage, and to support one other. With the formal ratification of our Constitution on April 11, 1992 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the framework for an organization capable of unifying Filipino students emerged. FIND was on its way to becoming a reality.

FIND Inc. Accomplishments

Currently, our Network actively links over 90 East Coast college, university, vocational, and technical schools. Most districts have formed an internal executive structure. Moreover, with such a structure in place, districts have been able to successfully sponsor their own events and raise money for the District and the Network as a whole. Strong, cohesive Districts are the key to FIND Inc.

Since formal ratification of the Constitution, well-attended Dialogues and Conferences have been sponsored by various districts:

Strengthening Network ties, a semi-annual newsletter, Ating Panahon, has been consistently published and a directory of participating schools and students is available.

FIND Inc. has also established a working relationship with other networks such as the National Filipino American Youth Association (NFAYA), the National Pilipino Student Conference (NPSC), and the East Coast Asian Student Union (ECASU).