Dear Friends and Partners-In-Change, I would like to invite you to become part of Rags2Riches, Inc.; a social business enterprise (Corporation) creating Eco-Ethical fashion bags and home accessories, created by empowered women from Payatas, who upcycle scrap materials discarded by factories around the Philippines. We create Eco-Ethical lifestyle products with our partner designers Mr. Rajo... »

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... »

Through the referral of Rags2Riches’ partner and investor, LGT Venture Philanthropy, I got to know about the INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship Programme. I applied through Hans Wahl, the Programme Director, and thankfully got accepted – thus spending the last week in INSEAD Singapore on this very engaging learning journey. The course itself was led by Filipe... »

Sharing my TEDx Manila Talk — a personal passion for changing the world through social businesses, and how we at Hapinoy try to live this through the work that we do. Change, Inc : How Social Business Can Help Build A Better World View more documents from Mark Ruiz. »

The MCPI (Microfinancing Council of the Philippines) had a regional conference on the theme Beyond Credit : A Holistic Approach to Poverty Eradication, and we at Hapinoy were invited to share our experience and perspective on the topic. The topic is actually quite interesting, especially since we founded MicroVentures/Hapinoy specifically on this insight : Given... »

As we celebrate the 2nd year anniversary of Rags2Riches, we affirm our commitment to the advocacy we are building – an Eco-Ethical LifeStyle elegantly encapsulated in our Manifesto : My lifestyle is life-giving. I refuse to live in any other way. I believe that we should never compromise beauty for life or life for beauty. They come... »

Rags2Riches celebrated the 2nd Year Anniversary of it’s RIIR Designer Line in Bonifacio High Street. Sponsored by Ayala/Fort and Starbucks, the theme of the night was Green Nation – An All-Natural Party. As we have been reflecting on Rags2Riches’ core pillars of Community Empowerment and Fashion, it’s high-time for us now to start seriously talking... »

Inovent got invited to the Red Dot Design Concept Awards last November 25 in Singapore’s Red Dot Museum, and so Chief Inoventor Brian Quebengco, Design Inoventor, and I went to check it out and get ourselves immersed in award-winning concepts. Below are the highlights from our journey : Standing outside the Red Dot Museum Standing outside... »

Thank you for the pride, Ef It’s such a cool and refreshing feeling to see headlines like the ones below … you rock! »