Last Saturday, 16 of us, UAE-based individuals, graduated as Batch 136 from the Ateneo Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship Overseas Filipinos – Leadership, Innovation, Financial Literacy and Social Entrepreneurship (ALSE OF-LIFE). We completed the Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship (LSE) program which is an Executive Education program of the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG).
The LSE program teaches three modules on Servant Leadership, Financial Literacy, and Social Entrepreneurship over a 12-session, six-month journey to understand Ignatian values and prepare Overseas Filipinos for their reintegration journey or to enable them to develop innovative initiatives in their respective host countries. Our batch’s first session was held on August 11, 2024 and the last one on February 9. Our Business Plan presentations were held on March 22. All were conducted online.
The presentation of business plans is the ultimate step for graduating from the program. Plans should address social issues and should have a social impact in the Philippines or in the host countries where Overseas Filipinos live and work.
The first batch was launched at the Philippine Embassy in Rome in April 2008. According to Eduardo Valenzuela, PhD (hc), Co-Program Coordinator, there are over 5,100 graduates comprising 156 batches from 38 countries. He addressed us via a recorded video message encouraging our batch to become ‘men and women for others’ which is one of values taught at Ateneo.
Our graduation was a perfect timing in celebrating the Holy Week of the Roman Catholic Church. This week we reflect on the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, whose teaching of Faith, Hope and Love has been carried on for 21 centuries by men and women who believe in sharing their three T’s – Time, Talent and Treasure.
Two groups were given special citations: ‘Obra’, an Art Training Institute for People of Determination for Social Impact and ‘Kubo Café’, a Social Enterprise Combining Premium Coffee, Artisanal Desserts and Filipino Hospitality for Innovation.
Fortunately, I am one of the four ‘founders’ of Kubo Café which will introduce Filipino coffee culture, desserts, and hospitality in the UAE while empowering lower-income Filipino workers. Our main proponent is Sherryl Napit, a Q Arabica Grader and Coffee Consultant. The two others are Jolo Barbasa, a BA (Hons) Business and Management – Marketing MBA and MA in Operations & International Business graduate who is from Generation Z, and Janice Williams, a BS Economics degree holder with a Master of Public Management. ‘Obra’, on the other hand, is an institution that empowers multi-cultured artists with special needs to reach their highest potentials in any form of arts.
My wife, Rachel Salinel-Los Banos, who was present at our graduation event held at the SRK Training Center in Abu Dhabi, is a graduate of Batch 26 in Dubai in 2015. Her groupmates’ Business Plan called FEME Connect Directory was given Php50,000 by the I-Fund to implement their project which they eventually launched in June 2016. The directory is a listing of Filipino professionals, entrepreneurs and talents in the UAE given for free which is funded by advertisers. A portion of their profits was donated to two distressed Filipino workers in Dubai who needed one-way airtickets going back home.
The I-Fund was founded by ALSE OF-LIFE mover in the UAE, JR Papel, a product of the LSE program in Dubai in 2013. The fund supports and motivates graduates to deliver innovative and impactful business plans. Papel has been championing Social Entrepreneurship by creating Ecosystems to support the Business Startup Movement.
So where does our batchmates go now as men and women for others? Let’s all participate in the online voting and counting system (OVCS) for the May 12 mid-term elections by choosing senatorial candidates who have the best intentions for the homeland as men and women for others.
Gratitude corner: Thank you to all the volunteer teachers, members of the secretariat, and panelists during the trial and actual presentation of the business plans for making our leadership and social entrepreneurship education a worthwhile and empowering journey. Thank you, too, to our Batch 136 officers and, again, to the members of the secretariat, for organizing a memorable graduation event.
Note: The columnist is a 24-year resident of Dubai and is currently working as Head of Corporate Communications of a global energy logistics company. He is a former Filipino Community Leader and is now active with a global Catholic movement promoting the renewal of Christian family life. He can be reached at artlosbanos@gmail.com
