Jennifer Awingan – Asia Pacific Indigenous Youth Network (APIYN), Northern Philippines

From the Cordillera of Northern Philippines, Jennifer is a young Igorot leader who coordinates Asia Pacific Indigenous Youth Network (APIYN), which promotes and defends the rights of indigenous peoples in general, especially youth.

Jennifer is a member of the Kalinga, an indigenous tribe in the northern Philippines. An activist since 1990, she helped to re-establish the Progressive Igorots for Social Action, an organization that raises political consciousness on the plight and rights of indigenous peoples. She works with the Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance Youth Center, and is a coordinator with Asia-Pacific Indigenous Youth Network, which mobilizes indigenous youth in the Asia Pacific Region for the promotion and protection of indigenous people’s rights to self-governance, ancestral land, cultural integrity, and socio-economic development consistent with their values.