My Country, My Business

Define regret.

For me, it means not having found a way to at least send an entry to British Council's I Am a Changemaker Social Enterprise Business Plan competition. Not that I'm confident I'd win; I just wanted to at least try. I have a million and one social enterprise plans (see About for a concrete example) and all things social entrepreneurship secure a firm spot on the list of things I passionately believe in. But alas, the competition duration fell on my last month of pregnancy and my first month of being a mom so I had to prioritize. Excuses, excuses, I know.

Social enterprise is loosely defined as 'a business whose mission is vested in improving lives'. That said, wouldn't you want for every business to be a social enterprise? When the way we earn is integrated with the resolve of upgrading our nation, we all inevitably win. 

Next Friday, July 20, 2010, British Council will be awarding the winners of this competition. Competing entries come from all over the country. Winners will get a seed funding of P100,000 to implement their ideas. Reading through the project summaries of the finalists, I buckle with a surge of hope for our nation. Various community problems were tackled with a proposed resolution. And yep, all the proposals were thought of and planned (and of course, to be implemented) by members of the Filipino youth. Can't say youth is wasted on the young, huh.

If you'd like to attend the presentation of the business ideas that made it to the finals, troop over to Ricardo and Dr. Rosita Leong Hall, Ateneo de Manila University. Presentations and awarding will take place from 9:00am to 6:00pm. Viewing via webstream is also an option for those of you who can't make it. Just RSVP here and send them an email for the link of the webstream.

Lastly, I'd like to recommend this book: Banker To The Poor by Muhammad Yunus. It paints a clear and vivid picture of how social entrepreneurship can catapult a nation's progress.