Tala is a member of the Sumacher First Nation in Kalinga, Philippines. She got involved in the peacebuilding field in 2008 and currently works with Peacebuilders Community Inc., (PBCI) and Coffee for Peace Inc., (CFP) since 2011. She serves as the Chief Operations Officer of PBCI and Senior Vice President of CFP. She will also serve as adjunct faculty for the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Her work with PBCI and CFP is focused on community organizing and advocacy to local leaders to adopt the Peace and Reconciliation (PAR) framework in their organizations. She helps develop the local communities’ own vision for peace, crafting contextually-based, culturally-sensitive strategies to address peace issues in their place. Her approach in peacebuilding work is intensive listening and intentional relationship-building with the people most impacted by injustices. She believes that peacebuilding should be firmly grounded on people’s lived experiences, taking care to be sensitive to power differences and relations.