While this is most certainly an award for my fiance’ (!) , it’s also a glowing testament of the work that Rags2Riches is doing. In fact, as Reese is the first to always mention – this award truly belongs to Rags2Riches, our Communities, our Nanays, our Partners, our Designers, our C0-Advocates, and of course – our country, the Philippines

With the award, Reese and Rags2Riches will be putting up RISE – the Rags2Riches Innovation and Social Enterprise Center (although other auxiliary names are being explored for it :p) which will be the livelab that will further scale our work in Eco-Ethical Style.

More details of this endeavor in the months to come – but suffice to say that 2010 continues to be an exciting year for this Social Business Enterprise.

Congratulations, Reese!!! We’re all very proud of you

ROLEX ANNOUNCES FIRST WINNERS OF YOUNG LAUREATE AWARDS

Five Pioneers Poised to Change the World

Geneva, 15 April 2010 – Five visionaries aged under 30 from Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, the Philippines and the United States have been selected as the Young Laureates in the inaugural Rolex Awards for Enterprise: Young Laureates Programme, Rolex announced today at a press conference in Geneva.

Chosen from a pool of nearly 200 candidates worldwide by an international jury of experts, these outstanding social entrepreneurs impressed the judging panel with their passion and conviction to overcome challenges in the areas of science and health, applied technology, exploration, the environment and cultural preservation.

The Rolex Young Laureates are:

Jacob COLKER, 26, United States – is changing the way people get involved in community service. His internet-based programme allows volunteers to use their smartphones to donate spare

minutes to charitable and scientific organizations.

Reese FERNANDEZ, 25, Philippines – is committed to alleviating poverty by training people to become social entrepreneurs. Her Rags2Riches enterprise has already empowered hundreds of women to earn a living by turning scrap materials into elegant fashion accessories.

Nnaemeka IKEGWUONU, 27, Nigeria – intends to boost the living standards of millions of Nigerian farmers through his interactive, mobile radio network. Hundreds of thousands of rural listeners are already receiving and exchanging information on sustainable farming practices and health issues.

Piyush TEWARI, 29, India – has set up a foundation to train a network of police officers and volunteers to respond quickly to road accidents and administer rapid medical care. By providing immediate assistance to victims, he hopes to stem the thousands of fatalities that occur on Indian roads each year.

Bruktawit TIGABU, 28, Ethiopia – is building on the success of a television programme on health that she and her husband are producing for preschool children and their parents.

—

“Rolex is delighted to support these exceptional young men and women who represent the best of their generation,” said Rebecca Irvin, director of philanthropy at Rolex. “In tackling the problems that face humanity, they do not think in traditional ways or stick to old ideas. Their innovative projects have begun to have a profound effect on their own communities, and potentially could improve the lives of millions of people.”

An expansion of the long-standing Rolex Awards for Enterprise, the Young Laureates Programme honours men and women between the ages of 18 and 30 with inventive ideas. Each Young

Laureate will receive US$50,000 over the course of two years. During the first year, funding of

$25,000 each will give the recipients time to focus on their pioneering projects, while the second instalment will help them move forward in implementing them. The Rolex Awards international network of innovators, comprised mainly of former Laureates, is available for guidance and to help the winners take the projects to another stage.

“In this sound-bite world of ours, Rolex is giving a message to these motivated young people to take time to think things through and do their projects right,” said American ecologist Margaret

D. Lowman, one of the 10 jury members who chose the winners. “The younger generation really gets it when it comes to the planet and how the machinery of the earth works. We only need to empower them to act and Rolex is doing this by providing the gift of time.”

Another jury member, Singaporean explorer Khoo Swee Chiow, agreed: “Rolex is giving the Young Laureates time to mature. I think preparation is important. That is why, I guess, it took me

ten years before I finally climbed Everest.”

On 11 November 2010, Rolex will mark the accomplishments of the Young Laureates at an event at the recently launched Rolex Learning Center, a hub for educational exchange, at a highly respected Swiss university, the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Experts from

related fields, including some former Laureates, will join the celebration.

For further information, visit: young.rolexawards.com, or contact:

Mary O’ Mahony
Head of the Rolex Awards Young Laureates Programme
The Rolex Awards for Enterprise, P.O. Box 1311, 1211 Geneva 26 Switzerland
Tel. +41 22 302 2179, Fax +41 22 302 2585

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Woot!! Woot!! The IT Journalists Association of the Philippines (a.k.a. CyberPress) awarded Inovent as IT Startup of the Year for 2009. The other nominees in the category were Sulit.com.ph as well as ANTS.

Unfortunately, Brian Quebengco was in the US so he couldn’t join myself and our partner Henry Nguyen for the awarding.

Aside from the startup of the year, there were other awards given out :

* News Story of the Year went to Smartmatic-TIM undertaking the computerization of the 2010 Elections
* IT Product of the Year was given to Windows 7.
* IT Executive of the Year went to Ricky Banaag, Country Head of Intel Philippines.
* Company of the Year went to Acer
* A special lifetime award was also given to Bill Torres who started the Internet Service Provider Mozcom and is fondly referred to as ‘the Father of the Philippine Internet’.

It was definitely an awesome honor for Inovent, especially given the fact that we truly are a startup — composed of a ragtag team of youthful and vibrant designers, engineers, and believers who didn’t even have an office when we were starting. Because of these humble beginnings,  the Beta prototype of the Ilumina was actually built in the condo unit of our student-engineer! :p

Here’s looking to 2010 and beyond as we see how the succeeding chapters of our startup story evolves …

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I’ve been invited to share in this event. See you there!

JCI Entrep Summit 2009 : Inspiring Tomorrow’s Leaders

Ideas and stories from business people who are ahead of their time.

“Are You Ready to be an Entrepreneur?” – Rudy Ang, Dean, Ateneo de Manila’s School of Management
“How Belo became Belo” – Vicky Belo, Founder, Belo Medical Group
“The Secret Behind the Largest Consumer Products Company in the World” – Johnip Cua, First Filipino GM of Procter & Gamble Philippines
“Taking the Family Business to the Next Level” – York Vitangcol, CEO, St. Peter Group of Companies
“5 Pillars to a Successful Entrepreneur” – Edward Lee, Founder and Chairman, Citisec Online
“Social Business Enterprise: Doing Good While Doing Well” – Mark Ruiz, Social Entrepreneur, Hapinoy and Rags2Riches
“10 Best Practices for Marketing on the Internet” – Anton Diaz, Professional Blogger, Our Awesome Planet, and
Victoria Jardiolin, Founder and President, Natasha and Marikina Shoe Exchange

Date: October 24, 2009, Saturday
Venue: SMX Convention Center
Time: 9.30am – 5.00pm

for more details, http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000293037401

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Bam and I gave a talk on Innovation and Social Business Entrepreneurship to AsiaSociety’s Philippines21 Batch 2009 last Thursday; It was an extremely interesting mix of people, a veritable cross-section of young leaders from business, social development, culture, and governance.

We then attended the gala dinner that night to welcome the new batch and converse with other Philippines21 alumni. The palpable energy amongst the group made me very hopeful that our generation of young leaders can really make a difference for future generations to come.

Below is the official press release :

—

Asia Society honors new batch of Young Filipino Leaders
by Harvey Keh

The Asia Society, a highly recognized international organization based in New York that aims to promote international understanding and relations among the Asia-Pacific region has released its new batch of honorees for its Philippines 21 Young Leaders Program. It was at the Asia Society where current US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton first delivered the Obama administration’s policy statements on the Asian region. It was also at the Asia Society where former Senator Ninoy Aquino delivered his speech wherein he uttered the famous line, “The Filipino is worth dying for”. Every year the Asia Society gathers the top 200 young leaders of the Asia-Pacific region for its Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit which was previously held in Japan, Singapore and South Korea. Past Filipino delegates include current Anak Mindanao party-list Rep. Ariel Hernandez, Shangri-la group CSR Head Patricia Gallardo, education advocate Ching Jorge, former National Youth Commission Chairperson Bam Aquino, DNA Forensics Scientist Dr. Ma. Corazon De Ungria, human rights lawyer Atty. Damcelle Torres-Cortez, social entrepreneur Mark Ruiz and former Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla.

As part of its selection for this year’s delegates to the summit, the Asia Society office in the Philippines screened more than 150 nominations of young Filipino leaders aged between 25-40 years old. These young leaders come from different sectors such as the academe, business, government, non-profit, religious, military and culture and the arts. According to Atty. Arnel Casanova, Executive Director of Asia Society-Philippines, their main criteria for screening and selecting the top 10 Filipino young leaders are their leadership experience, achievements in their chosen field and service to the country.

This year’s batch of Filipino honorees include Cecile Dominguez, Steve Arquiza, Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, Jose Romeo de la Cruz, Jaime Gonzalez, Ryan Guinaran, Dennis Gupa, Rommel Juan, Darwin Mariano ane Efren Penaflorida. Dominguez and Arquiza both hail from Mindanao and represent the non-profit sector with Dominguez being honored for her work towards promoting quality basic education reform in the province of Saranggani and Arquiza being honored for his work towards encouraging civic participation among the youth in Davao City. Penaflorida of Cavite, is best known for starting the Dynamic Teen Company which helps provide quality education to out of school youth. Recently, he was chosen as one of the nominees for CNN’s Heroes for 2009.  Juan and Gonzales were both chosen for being at the forefront of promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in our country. Juan is the founder of Binalot Fiesta Foods which promotes environmental awareness by serving its food in native banana leaves. Gonzales is known for being a maverick in developing start-up internet companies in the country which has since been acquired by larger US-based firms.

Showing that not all is bad in our government, Batapa-Sigue and de la Cruz are both incumbent councilors from Bacolod City and Santiago City, respectively. Batapa-Sigue was chosen because of her programs which continue to champion women’s rights while de la Cruz is at the forefront of promoting free legal assistance to indigents in Santiago City. Aside from them, Mariano has also had experience in working with politics and governance being the founder of the late Senator Raul Roco’s Aksyon Kabataan group.  Mariano has become the Public Affairs Director of Cemex-Philippines which implements environmental conservation programs all over the country.

Finally, Guinaran and Gupa both represent culture and the arts sector with Guinaran working towards the preservation and promotion of Ibaloi culture and Gupa using the theatre as a means to promote national moral regeneration in our country. All the fellows will represent the country at the Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit which will be held this coming November at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

For more information regarding the Asia Society’s Philippines 21 Young Leaders Program, you can contact Patricia Vega at 0920-9083952 or send an email to patriciav@asiasoc.org.ph .

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1st interactive TV proudly Pinoy-made
By Rainier Allan Ronda (The Philippine Star) Updated June 14, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines – A group of young Filipino engineers and designers bidding to make the world’s first interactive television unveiled the improved prototype of their dream computer-TV the other day.

Brian Quebengco, founder of Inovent Electronics Inc., launched the “beta” version of their Illumina LCD Interactive Television (iTV).

Quebengco presented a 32-inch LCD television enhanced with the functions of a personal computer with interactive Internet capability.

With their production of the beta unit, Quebengco said they are coming close to finishing a final prototype that will be mass-produced in the country and sent on a path toward attempting to be the first Filipino electronic product that can challenge the consumer market dominated by products from Japan, South Korea and the United States.

Calling themselves as “inoventors,” Quebengco said their group is attempting to merge the regular LCD TV and personal computer.

He said their group is now in talks with various manufacturers interested in mass-producing the Illumina.

According to Quebengco, they have already signed non-disclosure agreements with the US’ leading chip maker Intel, and local electronics companies Integrated Microelectronics Inc. (IMI) of the Ayala group and EMS Inc. to discuss possible mass production.

The Inovent Electronics team is composed of Quebengco as its founder and leader; chief marketing “inoventor” Mark Ruiz; senior design “inoventors” Peter Can, Jonas Peralta, and Jaed del Mundo; junior program “inoventor” Ryan Bitanga; and junior “inoventors” Victor Yu and Nikko Garcia, who are undergraduates at the De La Salle University (DLSU) taking up electrical engineering and electronics and communications engineering (ECE), respectively.

Quebengco is a professor of industrial design at the DLSU, aside from being an entrepreneur.

The group had produced the Illumina literally from scratch in the garage and different dorm units of the team members.

The Inovent team had presented an “alpha” unit or rough prototype of the Illumina last Nov. 30.

“We have made it sexier,” Ruiz said in the presentation yesterday at the Magnet Café in Bonifacio High Street mall at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City.

The Illumina boasts of a complete multimedia device with access to Google Gadgets, Plasma Widgets, and Mac OS X dock Widgets.

It is said to be the first convergence product made in the Philippines that synthesizes the functions of an LCD television and a personal computer.

Housed in a bold and minimalist curved casing, the iTV is equipped with a High Definition (HD) webcam, a Blue Ray DVD slot drive, VoIP, DVR, Wi-Fi/LAN, 1.5 Terabyte hard drive, wireless keyboard, and a Bluetooth head phone built in the back of the remote control to allow motion gesture base.

The iTV allows the user to watch a local or cable show while browsing the Internet and even communicate interactively through voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and webcam.

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Written by Neil R. Ramos / Photos by Nonie Reyes
Thursday, 11 June 2009 19:16

Change, it has been said, is an inevitable aspect of life and living. v Though indeed this  adage could only be too accurate, some of us go about life seemingly content to just allow for it to happen—regardless of the outcome, whether it be good or bad.

Well, this shouldn’t be—that is, according to a group of individuals that have banded together united in the idea of spurring the nation to take charge and take control.

Their clarion call? “Think New Thoughts. Share Big Dreams. Do Brave Things.”

According to the group founder, educator Mark Ruiz, the idea was hinged on the belief that we can “do more.”
“We shouldn’t just sit down and accept things as they are. We need to ask. We need to know. We need to move,” he said.
And how does he propose to spread his novel message? Through a series of talks he dubbed the Why Not? Forum.

Why not, indeed?

“Our aim is to inspire so the forum will be like a big open source, a well of ideas. Our aim is that through our select group of speakers, we will be able to propel Filipinos to connect, take action, and together weave new bright ideas,” he said during the recent Dialogues at Starbucks event at Starbucks 6750 in Makati.

Ruiz admits his idea is nothing new. He got it after stumbling into TEDTalks (www.ted.com), which gathers some of the best minds to share ideas for 15 minutes each and discuss it with the audience.

“I thought maybe I could do the same in a local context,” he said.

The first Why Not? Forum gathered a group of dreamers—leaders, achievers, doers, from diverse fields. “We had Dondi Gomez, managing director of Unilever Philippines; Gang Badoy, the bold mind behind RockEd Philippines; professor Jay Bernardo of the Asian Institute of Management, notably, the first-ever Filipino to have been named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) by the Junior Chamber International; Greg Tangonan, who like Ruiz teaches Innovation and Technology at the Ateneo de Manila University; Brian Tenorio, of shoe label Tenorio Manila; film maker Quark Henares; and Fr. Ted Gonzales, SJ, of the Center for Family Ministries,” he boasted.

It was, no doubt, a huge success. Still, of course, Ruiz thought he could do well to reach a bigger audience.

“I thought of a kid, somewhere in a province who, obviously, wouldn’t have access to the forum, which we usually do within Manila. I thought maybe I should just document the whole thing and broadcast it via the Net.”

This also serves another aspect of Ruiz’s dream for the forum—of it being a “huge megaphone for the whole world to hear what the Filipino has to offer.”

“We should be known as the country that said, why not?” he said.

Although Ruiz admits he still has a long way to go with achieving his goals, he is proud to have created a spark that is now slowly worming its way into the nation’s consciousness.

“The hits our videos are receiving is rising constantly so I just know that, at the very least, we have established the idea… and that is success in itself,” he said.

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Great Filipinos exposed
READ NOW By J. Vincent Sarabia Ong (The Philippine Star) Updated May 30, 2009 12:00 AM

The WhyNuts?: These are core group members of WhyNot? Forum L-R Richard Estuesta, Carlo Calimon,Jan Chavez-Arceo Bam Aquino Timi Gomez,Angeli Ko, Mark Ruiz.

With the recent level of Filipino media gunk rising and its content reaching a new low, St. Paul nailed it on the head when he said we must “drown evil in an abundance of good.” Fortunately for us, thanks to a group of young entrepreneurs, the word “Filipino” on the web is not Googled, tagged and associated only with terms such as singer, boxer or the song Careless Whisper. Instead of providing us videos that make us scratch our heads and say “Why?” these yuppies have pooled their resources together to give us online content that inspires us to do good as Filipinos and say “Why Not?”

I’m talking about the WhyNot? Forum spearheaded by social entrepreneur Mark Ruiz. Aside from his unmistakable white glasses, he is the board director of Rags2Riches and managing director of Microventures that manages Hapinoy. The WhyNot? Forum is an event already in its sixth run and features various inspiring Filipino speakers — from the three women who climbed Mt. Everest to Mr. Pagsi, an 80-year-old teacher who has been teaching first year high school English for 50-plus years. Among the other 31 speakers featured, this list includes corporate big wig Mon Isberto of Smart Communications, shoe designer Brian Tenoro, Jesuit priest Fr. Ted Gonzales, Senator Kiko Pangilinan and RockEd’s Gang Badoy who ad-libbed her eloquent speech when her computer presentation wouldn’t open.

Yet, the magic of WhyNot? is that these talks (inspired by the TED Talks in the US) are not just for a live audience. They are recorded and uploaded for free viewing in their website for Filipinos to follow the WhyNot? mantra of “Think New Thoughts. Share Big Dreams. Do Brave Things.” Thus inspiring Filipinos to unleash their ingenuity.

The First Step Is To Ask Why

Before leaping into WhyNot?, Mark Ruiz had the question “Why?” in his head. Already known for his speaking engagements, Mark was invited to a small school. He was shocked when they told him that he might not be able to speak because they couldn’t raise the P1,000 honorarium for him. This honorarium issue raised various questions in his head such as “Why are privileged people allowed to be exposed to great talks or ideas?” and “Why does it have to cost P10,000 to attend a conference of business gurus?” and “Why do you have to be in Manila to hear an engaging talk?” As an avid fan of TED Talk videos that feature remarkable Americans online, Mark then dared to ask, back in August 2007, “Why not do a TED with Filipino flavor?”

With his birthday only a month away on September 17, Mark, armed with his laptop already primed with a WhyNot? presentation, pitched the idea to his fellow social entrepreneurs friend Bam Aquino (his Microventures partner) and Carlo Calimon who works at R.A Gapuz Nursing review center to help him out as a birthday gift. They agreed to say “Why not?” and the first WhyNot? Forum was held in Warehouse 135 on September 27. It was an unexpected success as the people poured in to hear seven speakers deliver their WhyNot? despite the rain and UAAP basketball finals at the same time.

Yet, Mark and Carlo share that the first WhyNot? was a P100,000 ragtag production, like a high school project with glitches and all. So, on their third WhyNot? on education held at Mag:Net Cafe, they brought events specialist and managing director of One Asia Touchpoint Jan Chavez-Arceo to watch in awe and become a WhyNut herself to help with more sponsors. The stories of Tony Lopez and how he reinvented University of Makati and 80-year-old Mr. Pagsi captivated her; she soon became the group’s events organizer and secret weapon. Soon, they rounded out the crew with logistics head Angeli Ko and Timi Gomez to inspire Filipinos everywhere.

Be A WhyNut

The last WhyNot? Forum held in Tiendesitas on urban tribes had some freakshow fanfare as it was attended by various “whynuts” in Manila such as comic creators, costume fantatics in Star Trek getup, travel junkies and reggae lovers. When asked how the group would be able to top the last WhyNot? or even better it, they were hush-hush about the next topic. Mark hinted at radical plans such as holding one in a cemetery or another unusual venue. Jan Arceo says she tells the group to dream big and she’ll see how to fit it in the budget.

Asked what’s on their WhyNot wish list, Angeli Ko said she would like to speak about her passion for travel. Mark would focus on WhyNot itself. Jan Arceo was the most ambitious, saying she wanted to round up Filipino scientists abroad and bring them back to Manila to speak. Carlo, meanwhile, dreams of sharing his views on education.

After my interview with the “WhyNuts,” I was able to watch the rest of WhyNot talks online. The magical energy of each one, I learned, lies not in the oratory tricks used or the flashiness of their PowerPoint presentations, but in the fact that the speakers talk from the heart and with character. As Mr. Pagsi said in his own WhyNot talk, “When the heart speaks, there are no questions asked.” This is true for each video; they leave us in awe about how great the Filipino can be.

This is why I can’t help but ask, “Why are we so bent on spreading how bad the Filipino can be?” We need to first quit reading about and spreading the indiscretions of our own countrymen in media scandals and the like. Then, let us do our best to spread the good news in our blogs, twitter messages and Facebook pages. It is a matter of clicking away from the usual sleaze and doing our part to say “Why not view something better?”

* * *

WhyNot? Forum website @ http://www.whynotforum.com.

* * *

Why not e-mail me at readnow@supreme.ph?

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