Navy Capt. Raquel Bono, chief of staff for the deputy director of the TRICARE Management Activity, has been selected as one of 2009’s “100 Most Influential Filipino Women in the United States” by the Filipina Women’s Network. The award recognizes Bono as an emerging leader displaying high energy and skill in a leadership role at a government agency.

“All of the things that I have been able to do in the Navy are opportunities that I would not have had otherwise,” said Bono. “Receiving this recognition is wonderful, but it’s even more meaningful because it’s for doing the things that I love to do the most.” 

The award was presented to Bono and her fellow awardees at the Filipina Women’s Network annual leadership summit in Berkeley, Calif., on Oct. 30, 2009. Along with the recognition, the awardees are asked to act as mentors to other Filipino women in an effort to increase the number of female Filipino leaders in the country. This, Bono says, is something she does every day as she raises her three daughters. 

“You have to look at any opportunity and seize it as a mentoring opportunity,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be a formal process.”

The Filipina Women’s Network recognizes 100 women each year for their leadership and outstanding achievements. The selection process included personal interviews conducted by a group of prior awardees.

Before reporting to TRICARE Management Activity in September 2008, Bono served as commanding officer of the Naval Hospital Jacksonville, Fla., from August 2005 to August 2008. Bono specializes in general and trauma surgery. She attended medical school at Texas Tech University and was commissioned as a Naval officer in 1979.