BIGAY PUSO is a registered non-stock, non-profit organization that empowers children in underserved communities in the Philippines through education. Founded in 2011 by teacher Shirley E. Alambra, Bigay Puso began as a simple Christmas gift-giving project for 100 students in Payatas (a predominantly urban poor barangay built on a former landfill in the northeastern district of Quezon City) and has since grown in response to the needs of the community. Today, our programs include an annual Christmas outreach program, a monthly literacy and feeding program, and relief drives for natural disasters and emergencies in the Philippines.
Who We Are
SHIRLEY E. ALAMBRA
Founder & Executive Director
Shirley E. Alambra is a dedicated educator with over 20 years of teaching experience under the Department of Education Philippines, where she currently holds the rank of Principal I (Selection Division of Quezon City). Originally from the Isabela province, she received her BA in Elementary Education from University of the Cordilleras in Baguio City and her MA in Educational Management from Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Manila. Shirley was previously a Grade 1 teacher at Lupang Pangako Elementary School in Payatas, Quezon City (where Bigay Puso began) for 12 years, and remains an active advocate for students in the Payatas community. She is currently principal at D. Tuazon Elementary School in Quezon City and devotes her free time towards teaching kids in outside communities who lack access to formal education. Shirley's passion for education has been recognized through numerous awards which include: 2nd Place Winner for the ASIA-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) Challenge for 2020 Online SSAEM Conference, Recipient of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (SEAMEO RECSAM) Scholarship Program (2015-2016), Recipient of the 2016 UNESCO-APCEIU Korea-Philippines Teacher Exchange Programme for Global Education, Recipient of the Quezon City Scholarship Program for Public School Teachers, 2014 Department of Education Exemplary Mathematics Teacher Awardee (Regional Level), Most Outstanding Teacher 2013 for Payatas, Second District, Quezon City, and Most Outstanding Teacher for Araw ng mga Guro (National Teachers' Day) 2022.
KYM BISNAR
Co-Founder & President
Kym Bisnar is a first-generation Filipino-American from Los Angeles, California. She received her BA in Sociology from University of California, Irvine and her JD from San Beda University College of Law in Manila, Philippines. Kym is currently a practicing lawyer and member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) and the State Bar of California. She has also served as a supervising lawyer for the San Beda Legal Aid Bureau, one of the Philippines' few clinical legal education programs accredited by the Supreme Court, and has assisted the IBP in providing free legal services to the community through her pro bono work under the IBP Makati Chapter. Kym has over 10 years of experience in the non-profit sector. She was previously a co-director for BKP-California, Inc., a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit which built dozens of mini-libraries throughout the Philippines. Her notable projects with BKP include on-ground relief operations for Typhoon Yolanda in Eastern Samar in 2013 and the follow-up Camp Rebuild project in 2014, which was an initiative to restore livelihood to the residents of Camparang Village in Guiuan, Eastern Samar. The Camp Rebuild project included an art show held in Los Angeles which fundraised money to donate 30 new boats to fishermen in Camparang Village whose fishing boats were destroyed during Typhoon Yolanda, as well as the Green Garden co-op, a sustainable farming and garden project for the community. Her work has been recognized by various organizations including Department of Education Philippines, City Government of Zamboanga, and Task Force Davao.
