is a writer and researcher based in Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois. She is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at the University of Chicago.

Prior to beginning graduate studies, Reese worked in public policy, nonprofit and advocacy spaces, including the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at NYU Law, the district and capitol offices of former U.S. Representative Sablan (MP-00) in the U.S. House of Representatives.

ACADEMIC BIOGRAPHY

Reese works on modern transpacific histories between the U.S. and the Philippines - in particular, the history of the Filipino diaspora in Chicago and the Midwest, and the intertwined sites of the Midwest and the Philippines during the American colonial period.

Reese has a B.A. in Race, Diaspora & Indigeneity, History, an English & Creative Writing minor, and a certificate in Chicago Studies from the University of Chicago. In college, Reese was a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow and held a number of community service positions in Filipino American local spaces.

Reese has presented her work at regional and national conferences, including the Filipino American National Historical Society and the Association for Asian American Studies.

CREATIVE BIOGRAPHY

Reese predominantly writes creative nonfiction. Her current creative writing project is a three-part collection of essays on mediating personal and political loss. Her work has appeared in Memoryhouse Magazine, Blacklight Magazine, and Teen Ink Magazine. 

Reese also maintains a community-oriented curatorial and archivist practice in and around Chicagoland. She curated the 2025 Filipino American History Month exhibition at the Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago, parts of which can still be seen in the FAHSC museum in Pilsen.