Royal Morales (1932 – 2001) was born in Los Angeles, California to immigrants from the Philippines. He and his family moved back to the Philippines in 1934, and he returned to the U.S. in 1951 to attend Chapman University. He later earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work from USC. Drafted by the U.S. Armed Forces in 1956, Royal served until 1958, and a year later began a twelve-year career with the Neighborhood Youth Association through the United Way. He was involved in the Fair Housing Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, and in the 1990s worked at the Refugee Service Center in the Alcohol Program for Asian Americans. He also taught classes on the Filipino-American experience at Cerritos Community College and UCLA. He was a founding member of the Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) youth program in the 1970s, and worked with groups such as the Coalition of Asian American and Pacific Islanders and Asian Pacific Planning Council.