Carissa Villacorta, 28, has been working, living and writing in New York since January 2002. From 9 to 5, she works at the Community and Cultural Affairs Section of the Philippine Consulate General on Fifth Avenue. On nights and weekends, Carissa writes features on New York personalities, places and events.

In October 2007, Carissa was named 1 of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the United States at a formal awards night gala hosted by the Filipina Women's Network in Washington DC. This prestigious recognition placed her alongside other highly successful Filipino Americans Monique Lhuiller, Josie Natori, Loida Nicolas-Lewis and Lea Salonga.

Just a year before, in October 2006, she launched her first book, "Surreality" at Borders Park Avenue and 57th Street in New York and became the first Filipino author to have a book launch and signing at a Borders bookstore - the largest book and music retailer in the world, with 1,200 branches across the US, Asia, and Europe. "Surreality" is a collection of essays about contemporary life in New York from the perspective of a young Filipina publicist, and was recently reviewed as "a classic masterpiece." It features the best of her columns (also called Surreality) from the US-wide circulated broadsheet, Philippine News.

From March to June 2007, Carissa received 9 international awards for her writing (book, column, music video, feature article) including 4 Communicator Awards, 2 Platinum Hermes Creative Awards, and 3 Bronze Telly Awards. She shares these awards with her book/video's creative director, John Paul Su.

In May 2007, Carissa was featured speaker at the Mensa Society of Greater New York , where she was invited to discuss themes from her book. Mensa's 50,000 members are in the top 2 percent of the general population on an accepted standardized intelligence test.

In March 2007, Carissa became the youngest Distinguished Service Honoree for Excellence in Community Service in the 43-year history of Philippine New York Junior Chamber of Commerce's Distinguished Service Awards, where she was also honored for Outstanding Achievement in Contemporary Literature. Shortly before then, she was invited featured speaker at New York University's "La Pinay: Celebrating the Filipino Woman's Achievements ," hosted by the International Filipino Association at the New York University Kimmel Center.

Carissa is also the New York Correspondent for GoodNewsPilipinas.com and a frequent contributor to Filipinas magazine, the only US-wide glossy magazine for Filipino Americans. She also recently completed a 10-page feature on the Fifth Avenue Manhattan Home of Loida Nicolas Lewis for the Philippine Tatler, and in October 2007 featured her recommended New York spots for Business Traveller Asia Pacific magazine.