Share Your Story
Share Your Story
Every Filipino American journey is a brick in our collective history. This is how you add yours.
PinoyBuilt is building the definitive archive of Filipino American life — from California to Chicago, from Texas to Hawaii, and everywhere Filipinos have built something. But no single editor can tell 4.6 million stories. That is why we publish contributors — first-person essays, community histories, family stories, and diaspora perspectives from Filipino Americans nationwide and around the world.
You do not need to be a professional writer. You need to have a story that matters — and the willingness to tell it honestly. PinoyBuilt's editor will work with you to shape it for publication.
What We Publish
PinoyBuilt publishes contributor stories that fit our editorial mission: documenting the history, identity, and lived experience of the Filipino diaspora. Here are the types of stories we are looking for.
How your family got here. The flight. The sponsor. The first apartment. The culture shock. The balikbayan box. Whether your family arrived in 1965 or 2015, the migration story is the foundation of the Fil-Am experience — and every one is different.
Are you a Filipino nurse? The child of one? Did your family come to America through the healthcare pipeline? The Filipino nurse story is one of the most important — and most undertold — chapters of American healthcare history. We want yours.
If your family's American story started with the Navy — stewards, sailors, officers — or through any branch of military service, that story belongs in the archive. From Mare Island to San Diego to Virginia Beach, the military pipeline built Filipino America.
Do you know the story of Filipinos in your city or town? A neighborhood, a church, a cultural organization, a festival? Local histories are the foundation of our Pillar Series. We want stories from everywhere — not just the usual California and Hawaii.
Filipinos in Dubai, Saudi, Singapore, London, Toronto, Sydney — the story does not stop at the U.S. border. If you are part of the global Filipino diaspora, your perspective belongs here.
Have you run for office, organized your community, worked on a campaign, or been affected by immigration policy? Filipino Americans are one of the most civically engaged Asian American groups — and the political stories are rarely told.
Are you a photographer who documents Filipino American life? We publish photo essays — community events, family milestones, neighborhood portraits, cultural celebrations. Your images are history.
What does it mean to be Fil-Am in 2026? Mixed heritage, generational gaps, Tagalog at home and English everywhere else, the "model minority" myth, the invisibility — these are the essays that start conversations.
How It Works
There are two ways to contribute. Pick whichever fits where you are.
Option A: Submit a Pitch (Recommended)
Use the form below to tell us what you want to write about. A pitch is just 2-3 sentences describing your story idea. You do not need a finished draft. The editor will respond within one week to discuss next steps.
Option B: Send a Finished Draft
If you already have a completed piece, email it directly to:
info@pinoybuilt.com
Subject line: PinoyBuilt Submission: [Your Title]
Include: your full name, city/state, a 2-3 sentence bio, and your story as a Google Doc link or attached Word/PDF. If you have original photos, include those too (JPG, minimum 1200px wide). The editor will respond within 7 days.
Contributor Guidelines
Length: 800–1,500 words (photo essays can be shorter with 5+ images)
Voice: First-person encouraged. Be specific — names, places, dates. The best Fil-Am stories are the ones only you can tell.
Tone: Honest, grounded, proud. PinoyBuilt's editorial voice is professional and historically informed — not tabloid, not clickbait, not rant.
Photos: Original photography strongly preferred. Include captions. Minimum 1200px wide. You retain ownership of your images.
Language: English. Tagalog/Filipino words and phrases are welcome and encouraged — italicize them and provide brief context if needed.
Press releases or promotional content
AI-generated text without substantial personal editing
Content that promotes hate, discrimination, or misinformation
Unattributed or plagiarized work
Partisan attacks (we analyze policy impacts — we don't name-call)
PinoyBuilt is a volunteer-run publication. We do not currently pay for contributor pieces — but every story published becomes part of a growing, permanent Filipino American archive that reaches thousands of readers through Google Discover, social media, and the PinoyBuilt Pillar Series. You retain full ownership of your work and can republish elsewhere with credit to PinoyBuilt.
Submit Your Pitch
Tell us what you want to write about. The form takes about 2 minutes.
What Happens After You Submit
What Our Community Looks Like
Civic engagement & collective voice
Celebrating milestones in the diaspora
Mainstream media has overlooked Filipino American stories for decades. 4.6 million people. Third-largest Asian American group. Almost zero coverage. PinoyBuilt exists to fix that — one story at a time. Your story might be the one that somebody in San Diego, or Houston, or Vallejo, or Dubai reads and says: "That's my story too." That is how an archive becomes a movement.
Laban Pilipinas. Laban Fil-Am.
Together, we archive the strength of our people.
