about erica
I am a life and leadership coach certified with Coaching for Healing, Justice, and Liberation and have coached individuals since 2018. I have worked with community nonprofits since 2003 and have years of experience facilitating and leading leadership cohorts, team retreats, and data-informed processes.
I'm the child and grandchild of immigrants from the Philippines, born and raised in the vibrant city of San Francisco. As a Capricorn and Virgo Moon, I’ve always loved organizing spaces and information. At home, I share my life with my husband Gary and our two amazing kiddos, Liam and Lucas. We’re all about good food, meaningful moments, and exploring new places together. As a highly sensitive empath, I feel the world on a deep level, and I’m driven by my passion for social justice. One of my life’s purposes is to create healing spaces for BIPOC individuals and communities, where we can connect, heal, and thrive.
about la aurora
My 3rd Great Lolo (grandfather in Tagalog) Antonio San Agustin was part of the Katipunan revolutionary society in the Philippines working to gain independence from Spain. He owned a bookstore named La Aurora which the Katipunan often used as a meeting place. He was 36 years old when Spanish authorities arrested him with 12 other Katipuneros and executed them for planning an uprising in their province against the Spanish government. Spanish leaders hoped the martyrs would discourage Filipinos from a revolution, but it only fueled the fire leading to successful efforts across the country and later a proclamation of Philippine independence.
I’ve named my coaching practice La Aurora to honor my Lolo Antonio and the role he had as an activist for liberation. I honor his vision of justice and continue in his legacy of holding space for community.
about my journey
For a lot of my life I’ve carried an underlying energy of anxiety, hypervigilance, and self-criticism that kept me from living authentically and joyfully. Those feelings peaked in 2021, during the pandemic and political chaos, when I was a nonprofit leader and mom of two young kids. I began working with my coach, Ja Young, who helped me uncover that those challenges weren’t just mine but were passed down through generations of trauma from colonization, immigration, and assimilation. I realized my pain had deep ancestral roots. This discovery also revealed the same systems of white supremacy that impacted my family were the same ones that were shaping the lives of and causing harm for BIPOC individuals and communities surrounding me.
This experience has informed my coaching and leadership approach. I believe true liberation—love, joy, and choice—comes from taking intentional time and space to understand who we are, where we come from, and how the systems of oppression intersect. Through my own deep healing work, I now embrace my wholeness and the strength and resilience I carry within me from my ancestors. I am empowered to lead with clarity, confidence, and love and am now able to help others do the same.