9 Pinoys chosen Global Shapers

MANILA, Philippines - Nine outstanding young Filipinos were chosen as among the 2012 “Young Global Shapers” of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The young achievers are Anna Rosario Oposa, Mayor Maria Carmela Alvarez of San Vicente in Palawan, Ponce Ernest Samaniego, Jay Michael Jaboneta, Dr. Bryan Albert Lim, Eleanor Rosa Pinugu, Mildred Ople, television host Bianca Gonzalez, and Alexandra Amanda Eduque.

“The Young Global Shapers are exceptional achievers who initiated projects that have positive impact in the community,” said ABS-CBN news anchor Karen Davila, WEF Young Global Leader 2010 and Founding Curator for the YGS Manila Hub.

The nine individuals – whose ages range from 20 to 30 - have been accepted by the WEF as potential leaders because of their positive impact in their communities, said Davila.

Oposa, 23, co-founded the Save Philippine Seas movement to protect the world’s richest marine life, and “Isko Cleans UP,” a waste management program in the University of the Philippines-Diliman. She is the daughter of Ramon Magsaysay awardee, environmentalist lawyer Tony Oposa.

Alvarez, 24, the youngest female mayor of San Vicente, has a degree in International Business Administration with a concentration in Environmental Technology and Global Marketing Management from Babson College in Boston. She aims to transform the town into a tourist destination municipality using sustainable development technology to preserve its natural environment and help residents become self-reliant in terms of its present and future needs. 

Samaniego, 21, is co-founder and chief executive officer of Outliers, a social enterprise that serves as an outsourced business expertise for non-profit organizations.

Jaboneta, 30, founded the movement Philippine Funds for Little Kids that helps schoolchildren in Zamboanga City who had to swim to go to school. He was the first and former New Media Head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office under President Aquino. He is also a board member of the Kabayanihan Foundation and Team Pinoy, Inc.

Lim is a practicing physician in San Pablo, Laguna. He is a program consultant of the Asian Institute of Management Zuellig Center for Asian Business Transformation, a research associate of the UP Universal Health Care Study Group, and the proponent of the Quisumbing-Escandor Film Festival for Health and serves as adviser in various health-related projects.

Pinugu is the founder of Mano Amiga Academy, Inc, a non-profit school that provides underprivileged Filipino children access to fourteen years of high quality education (K-12th grade), and all other support they need to have a better life. After two years of raising funds for the students’ scholarships through private donations and corporate partnerships, she decided to establish a social enterprise that would generate a steady income for Mano Amiga, and at the same time give employment opportunities to the mothers of the students.

Ople, 25, is an advocate of countryside development through the adoption of innovative agricultural technology with profitable business concepts and ideas. She is also one of the founders of the Hagonoy Young Leaders Program and has worked with the Ayala Foundation on youth leadership and development projects. She is currently taking up law.

Gonzalez was recently appointed as Special Advocate for Children for the United Nations Children’s Fund-Philippines.

Eduque, 21, is involved with various humanitarian projects and endeavors in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Philippines. She has been working with the organization for about seven years now, and is the founder and chairperson of the Habitat for Humanity Philippines Youth Council.

Davila said of the nine achievers, only Oposa, Pinugu and Alvarez were invited by the WEF to the 2012 conference in Davos, Switzerland next week.

The WEF is a Geneva-based non-profit organization best known for its annual meeting in Davos. It is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

The organization launched last year the Global Shapers community aimed at providing the youth with a global platform to shape the future – integrating personal, community and global dimensions. This community will help youth develop their leadership potential to serve society.

The Global Shapers community includes extraordinary young individuals with great potential for future leadership roles in society. Aged between 20 and 30 years, they represent all walks of life and share a spirit of entrepreneurship in the global public interest, the WEF said.