Asia Society President Josette Sheeran Engages with Asia 21 Philippine Leaders
Asia Society President and CEO Josette Sheeran was recently in Manila on a two-day visit for strategic meetings and to engage with the Asia 21 Philippine Young Leaders of the Asia Society.
The Asia 21 Philippine Young Leaders are a critical mass of individuals who belong to Asia Society’s Asia 21 Initiative. The Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative identifies dynamic next-generation young leaders under the age of forty, bringing them together and supporting them as they build the critical mass to impact global affairs for decades to come. The highlight of Sheeran’s trip was when she engaged on a deeper level with the Philippine chapter of this robust group of leaders in the region.
Sheeran conducted a site-visit with social enterprise Rags2Riches, Inc. (R2R) whose founders are Asia 21 Young Leaders Reese Fernandez-Ruiz and Mark Ruiz. R2R is a “fashion and design house” empowering communities and artisans in the Philippines. It was established in 2007 to help alleviate poverty in Payatas, Quezon City. R2R has expanded and now partners with local artisans across the Philippines to create eco-ethical fashion and home accessories out of upcycled, overstock cloth & indigenous fabrics.
During the visit, Fernandez-Ruiz presented the top ten facts about what she’s doing, her vision and philosophy, business model, workshop, and introduced the staff to Sheeran. She also had the opportunity to express her top five wishes for R2R wherein she emphasized the need for an increased global exposure for the company, collaboration with designers, increase in market sales and brand awareness globally, and expansion of communities to provide more livelihood to people. Mark Ruiz who is co-founder and president of Hapinoy, a social enterprise that empowers women micro-entrepreneurs through training, access to capital, and Mobile-Based Technologies, identified well with Fernandez-Ruiz’s top five wishes. Sheeran was inspired on how R2R transforms poverty through elegant design, and believes that these types of ventures can serve as a role model not only in the Philippines but also in other regions of the world stricken by poverty and lack of job opportunities.
Sheeran also expressed the importance of strengthening the Asia 21 relationship by extending a deeper partnership and collaboration with Asia Society to help fulfill Fernandez-Ruiz’s goals globally. This can be fulfilled by a continuous engagement by the Asia 21 Young Leaders with Asia Society.
Asia 21 Young Leaders from the Philippine media also had the opportunity to engage with Sheeran. She was interviewed by Asia 21 alumna Doris Dumlao-Abadilla, a multi-awarded business reporter of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, as well as Asia 21 alumnus and Bloomberg Philippines TV Anchor Quintin Pastrana. During her interview with Dumlao, Sheeran tackled a number of topics pertaining to policy issues related to recent events in the region, business and economic issues in the ASEAN, upcoming elections in both the US and the Philippines, as well as Asia Society’s priority areas and biggest challenges. During Sheeran’s interview with Pastrana of Bloomberg, she spoke about the key events in her life that contributed to her success, her thoughts on effective leadership, empowerment, and change wherein she stressed that the “transformation of Asia is the greatest story of our time”.
A special welcome cocktails and an exclusive Asia 21 meet-and-greet dinner were also held for Sheeran on March 28 and 29 respectively, wherein she had the opportunity to engage in deeper discussions with trustees, stakeholders, and learn about the passions and advocacy work of the Asia 21 Young Leaders.
During the exclusive gathering with the Asia 21 network, Sheeran had an enlightening discussion when she posed 3 questions to each Asia 21 alumnus in attendance: what is your passion, what is your wish, who would you want to have dinner with. Each member answered and provided great insights about what drives them, what their advocacies are, and who they aspire to be or would like to engage with, in order to have a better understanding on solving the world’s problems. Sheeran’s presence reinvigorated the spirits of the group as she stressed the importance of working together to achieve mutual understanding in a borderless society, in order to transform the world.
In attendance were Asia 21 Young Leaders who are at the forefront of education, business, technology, media, sustainability, and culture:
Ibrahim ‘Ibba’ Bernardo, Founder and CEO of Sari Software Solutions; Arnel Casanova, President and CEO of Bases Conversion and Development Authority; Lesley Cordero, Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist, World Bank; Doris Dumlao-Abadilla, Business Reporter of the Philippine Daily Inquirer; Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, President of Rags2Riches; Enrique Gonzales, President and CEO of IP Ventures, Inc.; Ivan Henares, President, The Heritage Conservation Society; Natalie Jorge, Executive Director, Bato-Balani Foundation; Rommel Juan, President, Electric Vehicles Association of the Philippines; Martin Lopez, Director of the Far Eastern University’s Committee on Culture; Henry Motte-Munoz, Co-Founder, Edukasyon.ph; Quintin Pastrana, Managing Director of Library Renewal Partnership; Love Gregorie Perez, Senior Executive in Social Entrepreneurship, Social Development, Impact Investing and Incubation; Mark Ruiz, Co-Founder and President, Hapinoy; and Jeffrey Tarayao, Chief Corporate, Meralco.
Josette Sheeran is the seventh president and CEO of Asia Society. Sheeran assumed the position in June 2013, and is responsible for leading and advancing the organization's work throughout the U.S. and Asia, and across its disciplines of arts and culture, policy and business, and education.
Her visit to the Philippines also marks a historic milestone as Asia Society is also celebrating its 60th year of building bridges of understanding between the peoples of Asia and the United States, and using culture and policy as the primary tools for its bridge-building.