Dr. Maileenita Peñalba is the Director of the Cordillera Studies Centre, University of the Philippines Baguio. She holds a PhD in Politics and International Relations from the University of Auckland. Her dissertation is focused on building a grounded theory of citizen competence informed by indigenous knowledge and experience. Her research areas include indigenous studies, urban resilience, democratic citizenship, and local governance.  Aside from handling Political Science courses, she also teaches at UP Baguio’s PhD programme in Indigenous Studies.