Romeo Obrador. Garcia, Ed.D. contributes to higher education and community spaces with a steady, intentional cadence; where scholarship is not separate from lived experience, but in relationship and dialogue with the people he serves. He is a descendant of the Southern Tagalog people of Batangas, Philippines with intimate connections to bayan, dagat, and bukid - the land, the sea, and the local mountains - and is beholden to his ancestors to honor and perpetuate their legacies.

He holds a B.A. in Asian American Studies with a minor in Black Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, an M.A. in Equity and Social Justice in Education from San Francisco State University, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership at California State University, Fullerton centering participatory action research. His work reflects a sustained commitment to reimagining higher education institutions, community based organizations, barangays, and neighborhoods through the lens of equity, cultural memory, and collective community care.

Rooted in a transnational Filipinx immigrant experience, Dr. Garcia’s community-based work lives at the intersection of education, cultural preservation, and liberation. He has led and contributed to initiatives that center decolonizing study abroad in the Philippines, community participatory research with youth & students, queer liberation, and programs that cultivate leadership among historically marginalized communities. Through efforts connected to The Amihan Farm and beyond, his work honors ancestral knowledge while creating space for new forms of belonging and possibility.

His vision is both grounded and expansive: to build living classrooms where culture is practiced, not archived; to advance community sovereignty through education and democratized culture bearing that is accountable to the people it serves; and to nurture future generations of leaders who move with intention, humility, and a deep sense of responsibility to one another.