Bank CEO loses 23 lbs. for charity

Lose 23 lbs., gain P228,128.91.

That’s what HSBC chief executive officer Warner Manning did recently.

Losing 23 lbs. was good for his heart, literally and figuratively, because he used his (weight) loss to gain a future for poor Filipino children.

It wasn’t a miracle diet but Warner’s desire to see a miracle – a better life for as many Filipino children as he could help – that made him lose weight. His goal was to lose 20 lbs. in two months and he overshot his goal by three pounds.

While his goal to lose 20 lbs. was personal in nature, he saw it as a unique opportunity to drum up support for the Children’s Hour, a project which encourages people to donate an hour's salary to charity ("Time well spent").

His brainchild, "Watch Warner’s Weight," was a unique campaign that challenged him to lose at least 20 pounds in two months in exchange for pledges from staff and colleagues to the Children’s Hour. He personally committed an additional 10 percent of total pledges in the event he makes his goal. And in the event he lost out on the challenge, he was willing to pay the entire amount from his own pocket.

Following a diet of fruits and vegetables and daily rounds at his home gym and the Tower Club gym, Warner met his March 26 deadline. He had lost a total of 23 pounds! As a result, he raised P228,128.91 for the Children’s Hour, which he turned over to the steering committee headed by vice chairman Gina Lopez.

Practising corporate social responsibility is never easy, even for one of the world’s largest banks. But with the top man believing in "walking the talk," making a difference in the community has become part of the bottomline.

Warner’s loss was several poor children’s gain!

An on-line path to success

Last March, the US-based American City University (ACU) teamed up with the Parañaque-based Southville Foreign Colleges (SFC) to launch the first fully on-line MBA program locally, giving Filipino professionals easy access to higher education. Senior and junior executives who wish to obtain a master’s degree but do not have the time to report to school for traditional classroom presence, can work for the degree in the office or at home, with the use of computers with an Internet connection.

It is the latest ACU-SFC Graduate School method in delivering an MBA and MBA in Human Resource Management.

Dr. Rodolfo Ibañez, Ph.D., dean of the ACU-SFC Graduate School, said the two initial programs are likely to be the "best investments the students will ever make."

In 1998, Southville Foreign Colleges, the first international college in the Philippines, signed an agreement with London City College, an affiliate of Schiller International University, which makes it easy for students to take a master’s degree in business administration at Southville Foreign Colleges, and pursue further studies in Schiller-affiliated schools in other countries.

Who are the people behind the Southville Foreign Colleges forward-looking programs?

There is, first, Dr. Rodolfo Ibañez, ACU-SFC’s Graduate School dean, and SFC president. He was a Mercury Drug salesman before he capped his career with the position of executive vice president at United Laboratories, Inc. He owns the global distinction of having landed twice in "the Marquis Who’s Who in the World" (1996 and 1998 editions). Ibañez earned his doctorate in philosophy from the Washington International University and obtained his medical degree (honoris causa) from the Manila Medical Society.

Dr. Genevieve Ledesma Tan, president of Southville International School and Colleges (SISC), was one of the first educators who introduced computer technology among pre-schoolers as young as two years old in SIS in the early ’90s. She has a master’s in counseling psychology from De La Salle University, a doctorate in philosophy, major in psychology, from Centro Escolar University and took up a post-doctoral program at Harvard University. She is president of the Asian Psychological Services and Assessment Corp., and president of the Asian Association of School Human Resource Management and Development Practitioners, Inc.

Roger Bartholomew is chairman of SFC. He has extensive experience in marketing, overseas education, Internet training, and embassy liaison. He is president of International Education Specialists. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Wales, UK. He teaches Sales Management, Business English and Corporate Policy and Strategy.

Dr. Walter Liebrecht is president of Schiller International University, whose programs make it possible for educational institutions around the world to interconnect and students to travel and study in Schiller-connected institutions abroad. Under Liebrecht’s leadership, Schiller maintains cooperative agreement with approximately 40 colleges and universities in the US and other countries.

By their own accomplishments, these four people believe that the best way to stay ahead in a globalized economy is to be in the forefront of knowledge and change.

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