Monica Anne Batac is a Vanier Scholar and PhD student at the McGill School of Social Work. A young community leader and emerging social work scholar. Monica is committed to improving the well-being of Filipinos in Canada through community-based research and practice with an explicit interest in addressing knowledge to action gaps.

Monica’s recent work focuses on improving local, provincial, and national community-based interventions for Filipinos across the life course, including newcomer youth, Philippine trained teachers, front-line workers in the social services sector, and seniors.

With Kababayan Multicultural Centre, Monica is currently conducting a needs assessment and knowledge translation project on problem gambling within the Toronto Filipino community, funded by Gambling Research Exchange Ontario (GREO). With visiting scholar Dr Melinda de Jesus, she is also organizing Pinay Power II, an upcoming conference at McGill University, which will bring together Filipina feminist (Peminist) scholars, artists, activists, and cultural practitioners across the diaspora.