Filipina Executive Honored at Glass Ceiling Awards

in New York

Stella Aquino, a Filipina Executive of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, was honored at the Glass Ceiling Awards in New York City. With her is Philippine Consul General to New York Ma. Theresa Dizon-De Vega.

04 April 2017 NEW YORK – Stella Aquino, a Filipina Executive of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, one of the largest insurance providers in the world was honored along with five other women by the Queen’s Tribune, the largest newspaper in the Borough of Queens, New York at its Glass Ceiling Awards in commemoration of Women’s History Month.

The other awardees included the first ever elected woman President of Queen’s Borough, Clair Shulman; New York State Assemblywoman Vivian E. Cook; lawyer and New York Director for Immigration Affairs and Special Counsel Jenifer Rajkumar; Dr. Vasundhara Kalasapudi, Executive Director of India Home; and Barbara Amand, President of Amand Corporation and the organization Professional Women in Construction.

The awardees were chosen on the basis of their individual professional achievement in addition to pioneering and groundbreaking work in community service, particularly service to the women’s sector in their respective communities.

Ms. Aquino, a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the University of the Philippine Diliman School of Economics and Masteral Degree graduate from the University of Chicago, played an integral role during Empire’s efforts to convert from being a non-profit to a for-profit organization. She likewise helped establish an Asian-American employee association in Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield to make Asian-American employees more visible in the company. She is currently the Company’s Business Director for Actuarial Valuation.

Her community involvement includes serving on the Board of the Asian-American Federation, one of the largest and most visible organizations for Asian-Americans, which has undertaken research work on the socioeconomic, demographic, political, and health issues affecting Asian-Americans including Filipino-Americans. The Federation’s various studies continue to be used by policy makers as a reference point in determining programs and funding for the Asian-American sector.

Queen’s is acknowledged as the most diverse borough of New York as well as the preferred residence for the largest concentration of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans in the US Northeast. END