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In 2022 I was one of six people awarded with a fellowship at Subak Australia. Subak’s Fellowship funds innovative climate data specialists. This funding partially supported outputs for my G20 presentations, to show that my OK Kit local data economy and MSME program can provide better data, local revenues and social impacts at significantly lower costs and climate footprints, in just 3 months.
I recently curated Angat Negosyo: Growing Local and International Filipino MSMEs, a workshop to help micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises navigate the local and export market journey. In partnership with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, this event was funded by Global Affairs Canada in collaboration with the APEC Secretariat. The APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership works to build the potential of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in APEC developing economies to foster sustainable growth and poverty reduction in the region – with a focus on Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Peru.
Participants had the opportunity to hear speakers share their journey and work hands-on with local and Canadian leaders in design, production, taxation, logistics and finance.
Learn more at
Today is United Nations World Food Day and Indigenous Peoples Month. In the Philippines, most of our communities do not have access to safe, affordable and nearby nutrition, making food security our number one priority. This year’s theme is Change the Future of Migration: Invest in Food Security and Rural Development.
This week, from Friday, October 20 to Sunday, October 22 the 7th Likhang Habi Market Fair takes place at Glorietta until 10pm. Please come and support food, fashion and household products made by artisan weaving communities from across the country. The road to resilient communities begins with liveable wages. Please help support our local economies. #habifair2017 #MapPH
London calling! Thrilled to be heading to SIX – Social Innovation Exchange Wayfinder: Mapping the Way Forward For The Next Decade of Social Innovation. I’ll be sharing our Map the Philippines story and delivering a talk on the future of development session with 160 leaders from 34 countries.
Thrilled to be working on disaster resilient and sustainable livelihood and mapping programs with women, farmers, fishermen and rural poor communities in Davao, Mindanao. With support from the Gerry Roxas Foundation and USAID, we announced the first batches of grantees and launched the Tuason Development Foundation TDFI Campus for micro to medium enterprise.
In honor of UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s World Food Day on Friday, October 16 Map the Philippines, Amy Besa’s Ang Sariling Atin and Purple Yam Malate and De La Salle Saint Benilde invite food community members to an informal gathering to discuss and share ideas to create more sustainable and inclusive food infrastructure in the Philippines.
Our goals for the meeting are to:
1. Create a network of food community members from farming, education, government, business NGO and community groups.
2. Outline community needs such as farm to market roads, marketplaces, training programs, funding and other funding needs to support our local food economy.
3. Visualize the network and needs on a map to identify funding opportunities and areas for collaboration across government, business and NGO sectors.
Light snacks will be served, please feel free to bring a platter and showcase your local food products at our community table.
Register at https://wfdmnl2015.eventbrite.com
Coming soon…Netsquared Manila! We’re bringing all kinds of tech tool goodness to support the wonderful NGO community in Manila, and to connect us with over 80 Netsquared cities worldwide. Stay tuned for more updates! Netsquared is the face to face social purpose tech community meetup of Techsoup Global – a program providing free and discounted software and tools to NGOs around the world.
The Pacific Cities Sustainability Initiative with Gawad Kalinga Founder, Tony Meloto and My Shelter/Liter of Light Founder, Illac Diaz
This March, I was invited by the Urban Land Institute and the Rockefellers’ Asia Society to speak at their 2nd Annual Pacific Cities Sustainability Initiative (PCSI) Forum: Creating Resilient and Livable Cities. The PCSI is a collaborative dialogue which aims to foster long-term sharing of urban sustainability strategies between communities across the Pacific Rim. Launched in 2009 with the support of the USC Marshall School of Business and the UCLA Anderson School of Management, the initiative is a joint program of the Asia Society and the Urban Land Institute with support from leading organizations engaged in solving unprecedented challenges associated with rapid urbanization in Asia and across the Pacific Rim. PCSI convenes select thought leaders from business, government, and academia with the express aim of fostering new alliances, sharing innovative strategies, and showcasing effective practices.
I joined a panel discussion on Vulnerability in the Resilient City: Housing and Community Networks with renowned social entrepreneurs Tony Meloto of Gawad Kalinga and Illac Diaz of My Shelter/Liter of Light, and Director or the Institute for Hazards Mitigation Planning and Research, Robert Freitag from the University of Washington.
I’ve enjoyed a long partnership with Lyreco Canada and admire their commitment to the environment. During my time at Volunteer Toronto, I wanted to help Toronto non-profits access more affordable school, art and office supplies with a company committed to the environment. So in 2008 I announced a 70% discount with Lyreco for Volunteer Toronto’s non-profit community, the same discount rate provided to the Ontario government as their official vendor. At the time, they offered 600 green products, and today Lyreco offers over over 1600 green products and has expanded their commitments to sustainable development from environmental packaging to green delivery and green infrastructure.
I’m so pleased to announce that in 2014, we’ve expanded our partnership, and all registered Canadian non-profit organizations can enjoy up to 80% off school and office supplies. Membership is free, comes with online ordering and free delivery.
To sign up, contact:
Wayne McKenna
Strategic Account Manager
Central Canada
Lyreco
Phone: 1 416 707 8951
7303 Warden Avenue, Markham, Ontario, L3R 5Y6, CANADA
wayne.mckenna@lyreco.com
http://www.lyreco.com
No disclosures here, I am not compensated in any way by Lyreco.
Founded in 2005 by Oliver Madison and Craig & Marc Kielburger, Me to We Style is a social enterprise that provides domestically produced clothing using eco-friendly fabrics such as certified organic cotton, viscose from bamboo and recycled polyester.
Each year, Me to We Style donates half of their annual profits to their charity partner, Free the Children, while the other half is reinvested to grow the enterprise and its social mission. Through Free the Children, they plant a tree in the Maasai region in Kenya for every piece of apparel that is sold as part of a long term sustainability initiative.
Me to We Style is part of a family of youth organizations, including Free the Children, Me to We and We Day, that has a shared goal: to empower a generation to shift the world from ‘me’ to ‘we’—through how we act, how we give, the choices we make on what to buy and what to wear, the media we consume and the experiences with which we choose to engage.
In 2009, I established Me to We Style’s social media presence on Facebook and Twitter.
