Emerging from the ethnolinguistic group of Karay-a, Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo carved a unique path through the governmental ranks, serving across four different administrations in the Philippines. Her tenure included significant roles in the Philippines' Build Build Build Program and as Undersecretary for the Department of Information and Communications Technology. She left her government role to further her education at the London School of Economics and subsequently founded Build Initiative. Her leadership is driven by a profound commitment to inclusivity, accessibility, and sustainable development, with a particular focus on addressing the vulnerabilities of her home country to climate change.

She graduated cum laude at the University of the Philippines Los Baños in 2012 with a degree of Development Communications, where she garnered the highest General Weighted Average for Development Journalism Majors and received the Faculty Medal for Academic Excellence. She completed her Executive Education in Economic Development at Harvard Kennedy School in 2018 and her Juris Doctor program at the UP College of Law in 2020. Currently, she is furthering her education with an Executive MSc in Cities at the London School of Economics.

In 2023, she became an officer of the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary (PCGA) with the rank of Auxiliary Commodore (one-star rank).

She has been awarded Natatanging Iskolar Para sa Bayan and Oblation Statute for the Virtues of Industry and Magnanimity. In 2019, the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association bestowed upon her the Veritas Medal. She was named by BluPrint as one of 50 ASEAN movers and shakers, by Lifestyle Asia as one of 18 Game Changers, and by People Asia as one of 2019’s Women of Style and Substance. She maintains a column in the Op-Ed section of Manila Bulletin, Balata, People Asia and Esquire Magazine.