Jona Hilario, Ph.D., is the Statewide Co-Director of OPAWL – Building AAPI Feminist Leadership. Founded in Central Ohio in 2016 under the original name “Ohio Progressive Asian Women’s Leadership”, OPAWL – Building AAPI Feminist Leadership is a grassroots member-led community organization dedicated to social justice. OPAWL has three regional hubs in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Cleveland as well as an online community of members across the state and beyond.

Hilario received her Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, and Neuroscience from The Ohio State University.