Aurece Aubrey Bahala is a training expert and program coordinator with the Institute for Autonomy and Governance, a policy, research, and training center in southern Philippines. She works to build governance capacity of political parties, civil society, Indigenous peoples, former combatants, marginalized groups, and officials of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). These stakeholders are involved in the transitional period negotiated to resolve the decades-long conflict in Mindanao. She has a Masters in public administration and public policy from the University of the Philippines and a BA in political science from University of Santo Tomas. During the Humphrey Fellowship, Aubrey aims to learn how civil society organizations in transitional countries shape public policies and institutions. She will engage with organizations that have global expertise with empowering marginalized groups to assert their rights and collective interests in governance, institution-building and policymaking.