Board President

Mark Calaguas (he/him) is an attorney practicing at the intersection of law and technology, with interdisciplinary experience in nonprofit leadership and public service. As product counsel for Tayo, he provides legal and strategic support for an innovative data hub that originally launched as an online help desk delivering vital, culturally tailored information to underserved communities navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Mark also performs data privacy consulting and management services for startup founders, small businesses, and institutional clients. Additionally, he sits as a federal appointee on the Illinois State Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and is a member of the working group for the Privacy and Safety Framework (PSF 2.0) at the XR Safety Initiative (XRSI), an organization promoting privacy, security, and ethics in immersive environments (virtual reality, mixed reality, and augmented reality, a.k.a. the metaverse).

Mark is a past president of the Filipino American Lawyers Association of Chicago (FALA Chicago), founding board member of the National Filipino American Lawyers Association (NFALA), and a current board member of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Chicago Area (AABA Chicago) and the Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO). He first became involved with AFIRE as a volunteer legal reviewer at monthly citizenship workshops hosted by the New Americans Initiative. Mark’s prior experience serving immigrant communities includes pro bono work with the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago and an internship at the Sevilla office of CEAR, a nongovernmental organization that provides legal and social services to refugees in Spain.

Mark holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature and English from the University of Michigan and a J.D. with Certificate in International Law and Practice from Loyola University Chicago.