Joy Abasta

Joy (she/her) is an immigrant whose experience brought her to work with MOSAIC to serve migrants, refugees, and newcomers. In 2014, she started her Canadian work experience as a Care Aide and slowly moved her way forward to leadership positions in various organizations in British Columbia.

Her work started in the Philippines as a Registered Nurse specializing in community health, health promotion, and disaster and risk management. She worked as a travel nurse in remote and poverty-stricken areas in the country. In 2010, she served as a Board Member in a youth organization that helped the Reproductive Health Bill become law despite the various objections from a few sectors. In 2012, it officially became the Reproductive Health Law which affords youth and women accessibility to family planning and strengthens their body autonomy.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Joy decided to come home to serve her fellow Filipinos through the World Health Organization’s global Solidarity Vaccine Trial. This initiative aimed to provide education in reducing vaccine hesitancy, as well as provide the capacity in building immunity in communities.

Joy’s vision for Community Health and Specialized Programs is anchored in the hopes that (a) each newcomer, refugee, and migrant in Canada will be empowered to make informed and culturally-safe choices about their health & safety by bridging the knowledge and service gaps in their healthcare system; and (b) use Indigenous, inclusivity, and equity lens in the programs we offer.

When Joy is not working, she and her husband are lifelong learners including decolonization and the responsibility of living in the unceded Coast Salish Territory; the traditional lands of kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō (Sto:lo), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.