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Inclusive Leadership: Are we doing enough?

What is Inclusive Leadership, and are we doing enough to make it happen?

This was the topic for the second session of the six-part Womenar Learning Series being organized by the Women’s Business Council Philippines (WomenBizPH), supported by UN Women, WE Empower Asia, Philippine Commission on Women, and the Department of Trade and Industry.  Entitled “I am WOMAN. I am a LEADER,” the Womenar (yes, it’s a play in words of women and webinar) featured woman leader Rosario Cajucom-Bradbury who shared her journey on Inclusion as it applied to her career, her family, and her adopted home, the United States.  As chairwoman of WomenBizPH, I moderated the Womenar.

Cajucks, as her friends call her, began by saying Integrity is the backbone of her personal and professional philosophy, and that she stayed with SGS for 30 years because its corporate values matched hers.  Starting as a telephone operator in 1986 in SGS, Cajucks rose up to become CEO and Managing Director in the Philippines and Guam in 2006, gaining valuable experience in the commercial business and operations of International Trade in Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) Industry for trade compliance.

It was at SGS that Cajucks was first exposed to diversity and inclusion, working with different nationalities and traveling to different countries. She learned the importance of understanding different cultures and traditions in dealing with colleagues and clients.  It was here too that she observed and responded to the needs of a diverse team.  Realizing that mothers needed to express their breastmilk while at work, Cajucks set up a lactation room long before this was required by the Magna Carta for Women.  Called the Working Mothers Room, the name was changed to Working Parents Room when fathers in the company said they too stayed up nights to take care of their babies.  This also served as a Day Care Room for children of SGS employees who needed to work but could not leave their children alone at home.

Cajucks is proud that her company values competencies, skills, and attitudes, and provides equal opportunities for employees to learn and excel, whatever spectrum of gender they adhere to, or whatever disability they may have.  And while change management may not come by easily, she urges people to embrace diversity and inclusion by coupling curiosity with empathy, welcoming connections and respecting and honoring people’s differences.

As the mother of an LGBTQ, Cajucks feels very protective of her child. Like any mother, she worries about her child’s future, hoping for a safer, kinder world.  Now that she has moved to the United States, she wonders too about her family’s safety as aliens at a time of heightened emotions because of the George Floyd incident and the resultant Black Lives Matter movement. And she asks herself if she is doing enough to be inclusive. 

The Womenar also featured three women leaders who shared their experiences on Inclusive Leadership.

Tonichi Achurra-Parekh, a trustee of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines advocated for more women to sit on the board, to give voice and representation to women who make up half of the over 1M industry workers.  Tonichi shared three principles she lives by.  First, be fair and act on facts rather than opinions, as this removes all biases. Second, be intentional and act on what is truly meaningful to you. And lastly, be trustworthy, say what you mean and do what you say.

Maricelle Narciso, former general manager of Pepsico Philippines, wanted to prove that a Filipina GM could make a difference and shared three things that helped her.  First, she had strong role models, beginning with her mother who told her she can achieve anything if she was not afraid of hard work.  At work, she credited her mentors Sri Urip of Unilever and Indra Nooyi, Pepsico’s Global CEO, who trailblazed Diversity and Inclusion and imposed business targets to track and promote women to become senior leaders.  After all, what doesn’t get measured, doesn’t get done.  Second, Maricelle noted the importance of developing a diverse and inclusive team working in a culture of care, trust, transparency and commitment to do what’s right. Finally, she led her team with a woman’s touch, calling this Gender Judo, balancing toughness with tender compassion, very much like a Mama Bear.

Dr. Mildred Vitangcol, chairman of St. Peter Life Plans, said being a woman is a privilege of birth, and a personal choice to make a significant difference in this world.  Empowerment  begins at childhood with having strong role models and a nurturing family.  Regardless of position, socio-economic status, race, ethnicity or age, women can excel by developing life skills and inner confidence, continually learning, and bringing integrity, compassion, balanced perspective, and competencies to the workplace.  She challenges women to rise above adversity, place God at the core of their being, and become the best version of themselves.

Summing up the conversation, Mylene Abiva, president of WomenBizPH, said women empowerment goes hand in hand with inclusive leadership. The goal of inclusive leadership is to create a work environment that makes people aspire to be better, to feel better and do better, and to foster a culture that focuses on motivation and morale and values teamwork, shared vision and goals.

The question remains: Are we doing enough to make this happen?

Business, Training

12th ALCUCOA Annual National Conference

(October 9, 2019, Diamond Hotel, Manila) Today, I was honored to speak at the 12th ALCUCOA Annual National Conference on the topic, “Industry and Academe Partnership: Insights into the Future of LCUs and its Graduates.” ALCUCOA is the accrediting arm of the Association of Local Colleges and Universities (ALCU).  

Addressing the audience of top school officials, faculty, curriculum leaders, researchers and stakeholders from various LCUs and affiliated academic and tertiary education institutions from all over the country, was a bit daunting as it brought memories of my childhood, growing up in a family of academicians.  But then, I thought, I have to share with them the perspective of industry.

So, forge ahead I did as it was a great opportunity to highlight the need for industry and academe to work together to bridge the job skills gap, and to ensure that graduates are equipped with 21st century skills to be globally competitive.  Of particular importance is the need to improve English Language Skills as this is the global language for business.  It is sad that currently the English Language Proficiency of Filipino graduating students is declining, and I urged the audience to do what they can to stop the decline and keep this critical competitive advantage of the Philippines.

I presented possible partnership models, like those of Amcham, Accenture, Ayala.  The Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) has developed an extensive Industry-Academe Playbook, which IBPAP members and partner schools can use.  I encouraged the audience to establish ties with IBPAP to ensure that we have skilled and industry-ready workforce.

ALCUCOA presented a post-humous award to Prof. Tomas B. Lopez, Jr., Former President, University of Makati and Former President, Association of Local Colleges and Universities (ALCU).  I remember Tommy, whom I knew from AIM days, as an affable fellow who was great at communicating his ideas.  From the accolades extended him, it was obvious that he was much loved.

I trust that the audience will take heart and work together with industry to address the job skills mismatch, unemployment and underemployment in the country.  As DOLE Acting Undersecretary for Worker Protection, Joji Aragon said, “We need specialist workers, not technicians.  We need to produce graduates who are fierce in this competitive environment, and who are trained with deep, useful skills in the growth areas.”  ALCUCOA President and Executive Director, Dr. Raymundo P. Arcega, CESE acknowledged the challenge which Usec. Joji and I presented, and said ALCUCOA will take heed and collaborate with industry to ensure that graduates are job ready.   

I shared the career journey of Michael James Hamlin at the conference, as an example of the challenges that our graduates face in getting jobs, and finding their niche in the work world. Michael James is an excellent example of a young man who studied in the province, and worked his way up the ladder, securing additional certification in money laundering and financial crime to excel in the IT-BPM industry.
Tourism, Training, Travel

5th TIBFI Human Resource Congress

(October 6, 2019, Baguio) When my friend Tinette Capistrano asked me to participate in the 5th Tourism Industry Board Foundation, Inc. (TIBFi) Human Resource Congress, I readily agreed, having been part of the first four summits.  This biennial event brings together government, industry and academe to discuss how to make our human resources in hospitality and tourism globally competitive, a focus close to my heart.

The Forum, themed “Tourism and the 4th Industrial Revolution: The Future of Jobs,” took place October 3 and 4 at the Technohub in Camp John Hay, Baguio.  The topic assigned to me was “Essential English Skills for Tourism Jobs in the 4th Industrial Revolution.”  Aside from discussing how crucial English Language Skills are in Tourism, I also shared how our English Language Proficiency in the country has been declining over the years due in part to changes in the medium of instruction.  

In 2016, Hopkins International Partners, where I serve as chairperson, released the Nation’s English Report Card.  Hopkins International Partners is the official Educational Testing Service (ETS) preferred associate and exclusive representative for TOEIC, TOEFL ITP and TOEFL Jr. in the Philippines.  This showed alarmingly that the average English Proficiency of Philippine college students was B1, which is lower than the target set for Thailand and Vietnam high school graduates.  The results were based on a sample of 10,000 Filipino graduating college students who took the Test of English for International Communication or TOEIC. I dare say there were several in the audience who were surprised to learn the real state of our English proficiency. 

To stop the decline, the Government Academe Industry Network (GAIN) is working on a number of initiatives, such as holding annual conferences focusing on the need to ensure that Filipino talent are equipped with 21st century skills; crafting a National English Roadmap together with the Commission on Higher Education; speaking at different fora to draw attention to the problem; and lobbying for the adoption of international standards in English Language Proficiency, as well as, a National English Act for Global Competitiveness of the Workforce.  We are ecstatic that Sen. Pia Cayetano has filed Senate Bill #62: Providing for an Educational Roadmap Towards Global Competitiveness and Human Capital Development, and we hope that both the lower and the upper house will see this through into law so that the Philippines can retain the global advantage of our human resource.

At the Congress, I was fortunate to meet Ms. Maeve O’Brien who spoke on Training and Development of Human Capital for Future Tourism.  I appreciate the efforts she has put into setting up a progressive tech-voc school in Laos that prepares students with hard and soft skills, including Tourism English, so that they can work in global tourism jobs and break free of poverty.  Her subsequent proposal for more Public Private Partnership to create not-for-profit, revenue generating TVET in the Philippines is commendable.

The panel discussions were quite interesting, particularly the one where representatives from industry, academe, and labor discussed the importance of rationalizing On-the Job Training

and Teacher Immersion Programs for the Tourism Industry.  Ably moderated by Dr. Christina Aquino, the panel was participated in by Mr. Hessel Larcia, president of the Peninsula Manila Labor Union; Mr. Ramon Cabrera, General Manager of The Manor at Camp John Hay; and Ms. Jenelyn M. Magpatoc, CGSP, MHRD, Dean, School of International Hospitality and Tourism Management of the University of Baguio.  While there are many exemplary OJT programs being conducted by reputable institutions, I was aghast to learn that there are some programs that take advantage of the students to use them as profit generating labor rather than to actually impart knowledge to them. 

Indeed, there is still much that we can do to prepare our Filipino talent for global tourism jobs, and I laud the TIBFI Board led by Dr. Christina Aquino as chairperson, and Ms. Anabelle Ochoa-Moreno as Congress Chair and TIBFI vice-chair, for organizing a successful and impactful HR congress to push this initiative forward.  Congratulations!

Business, competence, Gender, Technology, Women

Speaking at the Cartier Women’s Initiative Female Founders Breakfast

(July 31, Manila)  When my friend Ces Rondario, founder and CEO of Impact Hub Manila and Regional Lead for Impact Hub Asia Pacific, asked me to be a speaker at the July 31 Cartier Women’s Initiative: Female Founders Breakfast, I readily agreed, not knowing I was in a for a most enjoyable and meaningful experience. 

On the way to the event, I googled who the other speaker was, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that Audrey Pe, founder and executive director of WiTech, short for Women in Tech, started her business at the tender age of 15.  WiTech is a community organization that educates, inspires and empowers youth to break gender barriers and use technology to make positive differences in society.  My curiosity was piqued and I looked forward to meeting Audrey.

Arriving at Happy Garden Café, I was ushered to the speakers’ table, where everyone seated there seemed younger than my children.  I met Audrey, with her colleagues Marla Abao and Bing-Rong Hsieh of Launchgarage, and Carmina “Carbs” Bayombong of InvestEd.  It was refreshing to meet such young women engaged in start-ups and serious about their craft. Soon, our keynote speaker, Republic of the Philippines Sen. Risa Hontiveros arrived, tipping the age balance slightly in my favor.   

Our panel dealt with the issue of building an effective ecosystem for women entrepreneurs to thrive.  Moderating our panel was Riva Galveztan, founder of Customized Dating, who I met years ago at another event, this time by the Business and Professional Women – Makati.   Riva is another accomplished young woman, who has overcome odds and come out stronger and better. She is an entrepreneur and wellness advocate. Aside from running her company The Natural Shelf, which offers a variety of essential premium quality Filipino-made natural health products, Riva mentors students at the ABS-CBN Bayan Academy Grassroots Enterprise Management Program.

Sen. Risa, a staunch advocate for women’s rights, shared the importance of finding out and pursuing what you really want to do in life and what makes you happy.  She talked about her early days as a student leader at St. Scholastica’s College which awakened her desire to help solve the country’s problems.  She is behind the Safe Spaces Act that punishes catcalling, wolf whistling and online sexual harassment, among others.  Before the event began, I congratulated her on getting this passed into law, and whispered my fervent wish that all our public officials, from top down, follow the Bawal Bastos Act.

Young, vibrant and driven, Audrey is a poster child for women in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math).  While still in grade school, Audrey decided to learn coding by signing up for online courses and doing research.  Realizing that very few women pursue tech and that there is a dearth in women role models in STEM, Audrey began a blog on inspiring women in technology.  Her interviews and blog gained attention and soon some friends joined her.  The WiTech community grew, and they organized the very first Women in Tech Conference (WiTCon) last year, a student-led conference for female students in tech.  Together with WiTech members, she travelled to Marawi, a neglected area in the Southern Philippines that was bombed in 2017, to teach basic programming skills to teens living in evacuation centers. Audrey shared her dismay upon finding out the gender gap where women earned much less than men for doing the same kind of tech work and so she has decided to make eradicating this an advocacy.   Clearly, Audrey is on the right path to helping empower women.

I, on the other hand, shared how I started TeamAsia in Hong Kong 27 years ago, organizing a management award program in six Asian countries, at a time when mobile phones and the Internet were still in their infancy stage. Proudly women-owned and women-led, TeamAsia is now an award-winning, strategic marketing communications firm that brings brands to the next level experience.  I talked about the difficulties and choices I had to make as a wife, a mother, and as an entrepreneur, finding the right work-life balance while growing the company, and the need for women to have access to markets, access to finance, access to information, and access to a support system.  For the latter, I said I could not have accomplished what I have without the support of my mother who took care of my children while I had to travel for work.

The event ended with a conversation between Ces Rondario and Carmina “Carbs” Bayombong.  Carbs is president and CEO of InvestEd, an investment platform providing student loans to underserved youth using a proprietary credit rating algorithm. Coming from humble beginnings herself, Carbs came up with the idea of helping marginalized youth to achieve their dreams by providing student loans that cover tuition, miscellaneous fees, daily allowance, dorm and project expenses.  Why, there is even a laptop loan!  This is such a worthy social endeavor, and she proudly announced that her students have now started paying back their loans.  

Carbs bested candidates from other countries to win the Cartier Women’s Initiative laureate for SouthAsia and Oceania in 2019.  Only one other Filipina has won this award, and that is Jeannie Javelosa, who came in as Asia-Pacific finalist in 2012.  A staunch advocate of culture, sustainability and gender, Jeannie is co-founder of the pioneering ECHOStore and the GREAT Women brand.

The Cartier Women’s Initiative, an international business programme, was created in 2006 by Cartier in partnership with INSEAD Business School to identify, support and encourage businesses led by women entrepreneurs (www.cartierwomensinitiative.com). Twenty-one women entrepreneurs, three finalists per region (Latin America & the Caribbean, North America, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East & North Africa, East Asia, South Asia & Oceania) are awarded every year.  Seven laureates are chosen, one for each of the different regions.

As laureate, Carbs took home $100K in prize money which she is using for InvestEd, a scholarship to attend the six-day INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship Executive Education Programme in Switzerland, media visibility, and ongoing support for the further growth and development of their business.   Carbs shared how all finalists received one-to-one personalized business and financial coaching prior to the Awards Week, attended a series of business coaching workshops and networking sessions during the Awards Week, enjoyed media visibility in the months leading up to the Awards Week, and were interviewed  by local and international press during the Awards Week. 

Many thanks, Ces and Impact Hub, for inviting me to the Cartier Women’s Initiative: Female Founders Breakfast, and for sending me this recap of the event: IMPACT_HUB_CARTIER_This was indeed time well-spent with the next generation of inspirational women leaders and entrepreneurs.

Business, Corporate Social Responsibility, Event Management, Travel, Work

TeamAsia turns 27!

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Today marks our 27th year.  As I look back, I can’t help but reminisce a bit, seeing this behind-the-scenes ingress video of one of our events in the TeamAsia LinkedIn Page.

We started in 1992 as an event management company organizing the Asian Management Awards for the Asian Institute of Management and the Far Eastern Economic Review in six Asian countries (Malaysia, Singapore, Hongkong, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines). Back then, we were just a team of four: Mike Hamlin, my sister Pinky, Myles and me.

Mike and I would travel to each country, meet with the judges, the AIM board of governors, the AIM alumni association, business management schools, as well as local and regional media to invite companies to enter the Awards.  We would print several thousand letters and nomination packets and send them out by snail mail.

Once the entries started coming in, we would pour over each one to ensure completeness of the responses. We would then organize meetings in each country to shortlist and then select winners, and with the media to promote the Awards.  Once the winners were known, we would write each one to invite them to a gala awards dinner with the head of state as keynote speaker.

Raising sponsorship money to cover the cost of the project was another nail-biting challenge, as well as coordinating with the venue, caterers, florists, stylists, audio-visual suppliers, photographers and the like to ensure a successful press conference and awarding ceremonies.  Why, we would even have to write the script ourselves.

Days before the gala awards in each country, our team would arrive armed with the glass trophies designed by Impy Pilapil and the exhibits that we would then have to physically carry and set-up ourselves.  We would coordinate with the local registration team, print out tags, set-up registration, and brief the hired ushers for the event.  We would arrange seating for between 500-700 VIP business guests, supervise the setting up of the backdrop and the styling of the venue, then dress up in formal clothes to greet the guests and manage the actual event.

Looking back, I am amazed that we were able to successfully organize the Awards for three years, at a time when there were no mobile phones, no faxes, no emails, no Internet.  Truly, we’ve come a long way since then.

When we learned about the importance of sustainability through the League of Corporate Foundations, we decided to practice greening not just in our office, but in our events to reduce waste and impact on the environment. In the early days of event management, we would print thousands of direct mail invitations and send them by snail mail.  As new technology was developed, we graduated to fax marketing and email marketing, supported by our team of dedicated telemarketers.  Today, we promote our events through digital media, and hold virtual coordination meetings to avoid time-wasting city traffic.

We use event technology as an enabler to make the planning and marketing process easier, to engage guests and enhance their delegate experience, to capture online and onsite registration, share up-to-date event information to guests, collect their feedback, strengthen security, measure ROI, and more.  We develop award-winning websites, mobile apps, AVPs, chatbots and audience response systems, and use different technologies for the WOW factor. Speaker presentations are no longer printed and bound in folders, but posted on the website and sent to guests for downloading.

While technology has in many ways made life easier for us, I must say that the secret ingredient to TeamAsia’s success is still the amazing people who create innovative ideas and deliver next-level experiences for brands using integrated marketing strategies.

From intimate executive briefings, corporate anniversary celebrations, and employee engagement activities to large-scale global conferences, TeamAsia handles each event with the same passion, excitement, and painstaking attention to detail.  Armed with excellent organizational and story-telling skills and a creative approach to problem solving, our Experience, Creative, Content and Digital Marketing teams create unique turnkey events that bring next level experiences to brands, helping them connect meaningfully with their audiences.

Happy 27th anniversary, TeamAsia!   It’s been an amazing adventure.

Childhood, Children, Faith, Family, Gradtitude, Life, Love, Women

Did she feel the same way I do?

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May 12, 2019. Mothers’ Day.  This morning, at mass, Fr. Chris told us that aside from God, we will only feel real, unconditional love from one other person, and that is not our love partner, but our mother.  He urged each of us to thank our mother and let her feel our love, while she is here.

I am fortunate to have my mother, Pilar or Dada as we fondly call her, still with us.  White-haired, a little bent, much weaker, a bit forgetful,  but still as beautiful as ever, Dada is now 84.  She’s been through the toughest of times, having been widowed at 32 with five young children to bring up in a foreign land.

A no-nonsense, practical woman, she converted our house in the university belt to a boarding house, woke up each day at dawn to go to market, cook for her family and her boarders, get us ready for school, bring us lunch every day, tutor us when we got home, attend our school events, and love us unconditionally.  She never remarried, and instead concentrated on taking care of us.  And when we had all grown up, finished schooling, started working, fallen in love, gotten married and started having kids, she took it upon herself to take care of her grandchildren.  Her love for us is boundless, limitless.

She was very strict, and there was a phase when we were very young that we got spanked almost every day for being naughty.  Spanking stopped when my father died, and my mom had to work really hard to take care of us.  I could see that life was difficult, but mom never complained.  I vowed to finish my studies right away so I could take care of her and the family.  I was hard-headed, strong-willed and impetuous, and must have given my mom quite a few headaches over the years, as did all of us children.

Drawing on my own experiences as a mother, I began to reflect on what it must have been for her as a young mother, far from her native Spain.

I wonder if she felt the same kind of excited ‘want to shout this news to the world,’ yet partly apprehensive love that springs forth when first she learned she was expecting me or my siblings.  Did she worry too, when her body began to change?  When she felt  that first kick and realized that there’s this other person growing within, did she wonder what lay ahead?  Did she also wonder what her children will be like? What kind of persons they will become? And if her children will love her too?

Did she, like me, feel that awesome love that takes root in a mother’s heart that precious moment when first we see our child, carry her in our arms and realize that life will never be the same?  That this little person will always come first, and that our lives will be intertwined forever?

Did she feel that tender, nurturing love when we cradle the baby in our arms and croon her to sleep?  The ‘grit your teeth, bite your lips’ dogged kind of love that lets her suckle, even when your nipples bleed, or carry her for hours even when your back aches.

Did she, like me, have that fierce, determined drive to protect our children from harm, and to discipline and guide them to develop the values they need to survive.  Did it break her heart too each time her children cried from scruffed knees, doctor’s visits, failed quizzes, childhood scrapes, and later from the disappointments of break-ups or misunderstandings?

Did she feel proud when her children garnered honors at school, or acted in a play, or won a school competition?  Did she too have that gut-wrenching feeling of seeing her children grieve over their father’s death, and of not knowing how to kiss this kind of pain away?  How did she manage to pick up the shattered pieces and patch everything back so that her children will feel secure?  How was she able to console her grieving children, when she couldn’t even breathe from pain herself?

Did she too experience the same hurt, when my once adoring children, now teenagers, begin to question me or worse rebel, and I feel them slipping away to become their own person, making their own decisions and living life apart from me?

Did she revel when she realized, like I do now, that the babies I once cradled in my arms, are now full-grown men and women?  That these children can now stand on their own.  Live.  Laugh.  Love.  That they in many, many ways are a better me.  And that somehow along the way, I must have done something good for them to turn out so well.

As I watched my children in the kitchen cook a special Mother’s Day lunch for Dada and me, I whispered a prayer of thanks to the Lord for blessing me with the inestimable joys of motherhood and for allowing me a taste of heaven here on earth.

Thank you, Dada, for bringing me into this world, and for loving me the same way Abuela loved you, with the same kind of unconditional love that makes women soldier on no matter what, through all the pains and heartaches of motherhood.  Indeed, we carry our mother and our mother’s mother, and all the mothers before us, in our heart.  As will our daughters do, some day.

Tourism, Uncategorized, Women

Jobs and Women in Philippine Tourism Forum

At the Jobs and Women in Philippine Tourism Forum organized by the Department of Tourism on April 30, 2019, we tackled various concerns of women in tourism, current trends in gender equality and women empowerment, as well as job opportunities in different sectors like farm tourism, travel and tours, and M.I.C.E. (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions/Events).

A staunch supporter of women empowerment and herself a role model of women leadership, DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat officially opened the forum.  She shared her experiences as DOT Secretary and previously Undersecretary for the Department of Agriculture, where she met women from all walks of life as she traveled all over the Philippines, and how they warmed up to her once she talked about being a widow at a young age and having to take care of two children. Indeed, stripped of job titles, we are all women at heart, bound by a common desire to take care of our loved ones, and make a better life for them.

Atty. Edwin R. Enrile, Chairperson, Gender and Development Focal Point System (GFPS), Department of Tourism discussed Trends in Gender Equality in the tourism industry.  It was interesting that the only male speaker in the morning heads Gender and Development at DOT.

Ms. Sandra Sanchez Montano, Board of Commissioner, Philippine Commission on Women, shared her passion about helping women succeed, and ensuring their health and safety, especially after her near death experience during an earthquake. I was happy to meet a fellow ASEAN Awardee, one who broke the barriers in a male-dominated field, driving ambulances and leading search and rescue missions during calamities.

Ms. Grace Baldoza, Deputy Program Manager, Bureau of Local Employment, DOLE shared statistics on In-Demand Jobs for Filipino Women.  It was alarming that women workers in agriculture were declining, while women workers in other industries were on the rise.

Inspiring women to go beyond traditional careers and go where men only dared, Chezka Raumae Gonzales-Garrido relates how she, as a flight stewardess, decided to learn how to fly a commercial plane. Chezka is now a First Officer at Air Asia.  She makes it her mission to continually inspire women to become achievers.

I spoke on MICE as a new product of DOT,  and the job prospects open to women in MICE, from organizing business events as project managers to owning their own event management companies.  Women dominate the Business Meetings industry in the Philippines, as can be seen from membership in the Philippine Association of Convention and Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers, Inc. (PACEOS). My own  company, TeamAsia is women-owned and women-led, with 7 of 8 management committee members being women. Majority of our workforce are women as they exhibit the qualities needed for project management: excellent communication and people skills; ability to multitask, plan strategy and lead a team; creativity in designing and marketing events; being detail oriented; and managing and controlling a budget.

Likewise, Josie Costales of Costales Nature Farms spoke of the joys and benefits of working on agri-tourism.  What started as a weekend retreat transformed into a thriving business, as she and her workers provided farm-life experiences to city guests.

Gina Romero of Connected Women shared how women need not be tied to a fixed schedule and be penned in a fixed work environment as they can do digital work from the comfort of their home. Proof that Connected Women is a vibrant network was palpable when a big group of participants suddenly asked to have a photo with Gina onstage.

Aileen Clemente, CEO of Rajah Tours, moderated the morning panel, which dealt with issues such as how technology is affecting or better yet enabling women in tourism.  As Sharon ably put it, we women should support each other and practice ABC: 1) audit ourselves to know our strengths and weaknesses, 2) build our network, and 3) collaborate with other women.

The Department of Tourism envisions to empower women by creating more job opportunities, and to make the tourism industry a gender-responsive, community-and women-empowered. DOT is definitely on its way to achieve its objectives.

The afternoon featured a talk by Diane Zoleta, CEO of Yapak.ph, who shared success stories of Filipinas who served as tourism drivers fir their community, such as Apo Whang Od, the oldest mambabatok of the Butbut tribe whose fame as a tattoo master draws enthusiasts to her village for a chance to be tattoed, willingly trekking for miles. A woman vendor in Marikina, famed for her street food, draws foodies to her community to try her smokey delicacies. Another woman dared get into lantern making in Pampanga, a male-dominated industry, and her fame has attracted followers wanting to own one of her lanterns. As an aggregator of tourism drivers, Yapak.ph opens opportunities to women in Philippine tourism to show what they are capable of, helping make their communities thrive.

Mylene Abiva, CEO of Abiva, international ambassador for Robotics, and a fellow trustee of the Women’s Business Council Philippines, talked about iMakeHistory, an installation of various Philippines tourist sites built entirely out of Lego pieces, which can be found in intramuros. Mylene a staunch supporter of women in STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, encouraged the participants to make use of their skills and technology to further tourism in the country.

I served as moderator for the afternoon open forum, tackling issues like work-life balance for women, sponsors who gave them a leg up in their career, overcoming odds and succeeding, and finding their passion in life.  Mylene and Diane gamely answered the questions of the participants, and shared their thoughts on how we can all be tourism drivers.

The forum ended with closing remarks by DOT Undersecretary Bong Benzon, who reiterated DOT’s thrust to further improve opportunities for women in Philippine tourism.  Truly, this was a forum that mattered, not just in highlighting women empowerment in tourism, but in connecting like minded women in their quest to succeed.

Technology

The 10th NICP Summit at Naga, City of Smiles

November 25, 2018. Somewhere between Naga and Manila. Here I am on the way back home from Naga City where I emceed the 10th National ICT Councils Confederation Summit together with good friend ex-IBPAP CEO Jomari Mercado.

Months back, when I hosted the press launch of  the digitalcitiesPH portal of IBPAP, DICT and NICP, my AIM classmate Dan de Leon and NICP president Dr. Tony del Carmen asked me to help with the national summit which was to take place at the Avenue Convention Center in Naga City.  Dan is president of the Naga ICT Council. I readily said yes to Dan, and the rest was history.  Dan assigned me to co-emcee the two-day conference and the NICP Awards, as well as, moderate two interesting sessions.

It was rewarding to be part of the summit, learn about block chains, cryptocurrency, e-governance, and what the different cities are doing to develop their local IT-BPM Industry and bring about digital transformation and Inclusive growth to the countryside.  It was also a great opportunity to meet old friends in the industry like DICT Usec. Monchito Ibrahim (who gamely took our ribbing) and DICT Emmy Lou Versoza-Delfin, and make new ones, like Metro Angeles Chamber of Commerce & Industry president Dr. Frankie Villanueva, NICP executive director and operations manager AJ Araneta, and dynamic young entrepreneurs of Streetby.com Cherry Ann Lee Angoy and Ronald Rhey Miñoza.  I also had the honor of  meeting Mayor John Bongat, who had penned the moving opening prayer, and VP Leni Robredo, whose intelligence, honesty and humility, I admire greatly.

It was interesting too not to have to worry about all the moving parts of event management. Honestly though there were times that I almost jumped to my feet to give directions but stopped myself in time to just go with the flow. After all, I wasn’t  in charge of organizing the summit, and I had a very capable and funny co-emcee who could easily adjust to last minute changes in the program, and who knew almost everyone in the room.

After the two-day summit was over, the executive director of the Naga Investments Promotions Board Ruel Oliver, learning the I was longing to do some shopping, kindly arranged for a quick trip to the market, accompanied by John Buendia, Sam Bantegui-Ballenas, and Edward Dimaiwat.

Edward is an intern at the City Tourism Office. On the way to the market, we had a lively conversation on what Naga City could offer a tourist like me who only had a few hours to spare. Aside from culture and churches, Edward said Bicol food was a big draw, especially because of its spiciness. I was waiting for him to start naming restaurants when he pointed out that there was a drugstore on almost every street to take care of the effects of over eating.  That was hilarious! Seriously though, he recommended visiting The Red Platter for its kari-kare and laing or Bob Marlin for its crispy pata.

John, on the other hand, is in charge of developing livelihood in 27 barangays, many of which are in remote areas. For instance, he is helping Barangay Panicuason in the Uplands of Mount Isarog to start an abaca plantation with the help of Bicol University. He is very passionate about helping the barangays under his watch prosper. From John, I learned that Mayor Bongat’s flagship program Grow Negosyo looks at growing opportunities for wealth by providing four services to MSMEs and SMEs: training, market support, product development and micro-financing.

My three guides proudly pointed out that the old public market was considered to be the largest single-roof wet market in Asia when it was inaugurated in 1969.  Shortly before the start of Mayor John Bongat’s term, it was renamed as Naga  City People’s Mall. We combed the market for local pili delicacies and dried fish.

I was happy to have Sam and Edward as my shopping guides, especially when it came to the dried fish section.  The lady at the first stall was charging me much higher than the other stalls (I guess it was obvious I am not a local), and Edward helped locate a friendly and accommodating vendor.  A smiling and kindly Merly Diego not only extended wholesale prices, but also sealed several kilos of danggit, pusit, espada and dilis in vacuum packed plastic bags and then packed them in boxes that could easily be checked in.

That night, Jomari and I skipped the Governor’s dinner to eat crispy pata and creamy laing at the famed Bob Marlin while catching up on industry news.  Definitely, Bob Marlin is a “must-not-miss” destination in Naga City.  When I first saw the crispy pata, I said this was too much, but it was so good, there was hardly anything to take away.

On the way back, we learned that there was a church close by that had a 6am Sunday mass.  Back at the hotel, Dan who had come to give us several bottles of homemade laing as promised, confirmed that Peñafrancia Minor Basilica was just a 3-minute walk, so we agreed to hear the 6am mass.

Early the next day, we walked to the Basilica which houses “Ang Ina” or Our Mother as the Naga people fondly refer to the wooden image of the Blessed Mother crafted in 1710, which is carried aboard on its fluvial parade.  We learned from much earlier risers Tats and her husband Elmer that mass was at 6:30 am and not 6:00 am but that there is another church close by with a 6:00 am mass. Since we had to leave by 8:00 am for the airport, we decided to just quickly pop into the Basilica to pray and see “Ang Ina” then briskly walked (almost ran) to the next church.

Huffing and puffing, we made it to the other church for mass, which was in the local dialect. I was captivated by the beautifully painted ceiling with murals from the life of the Blessed Mother.  Walking leisurely back to the hotel, we were greeted by the busy and colorful sidewalk market scene. I was tempted to buy suman but thought better knowing I already had a suitcase heavy with bottled laing.

Truly, this trip to Naga City was well spent, not just about doing my small bit to help NICP and countryside development, learning about digital transformation, networking with the industry, meeting new and old friends, but also savoring the experience of discovering the beauty of Naga, the City of Smiles.

 

Training, Women, Work

Kick Some Glass!

November 19, 2018.  This morning, the Women’s Business Council of the Philippines, Inc. (WomenBizPH) held a learning session entitled “Kick Some Glass” at the Dusit Thani Hotel Manila.  Though tired from an exhausting APAC Tour (she flew in late last night from India and has to leave for the US tomorrow), Ms. Jennifer Martineau of the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) gamely shared research-based lessons captured in her book Kick Some Glass: 10 Ways Women Succeed at Work on Their Own Terms.

Ranked Top 10 in the 2018 Financial Times for worldwide executive education, the Center for Creative Leadership traces its roots to the Smith Richardson Foundation, set up by H. Smith Richardson,  son of Lundsford Richardson, a pharmacist in Greensboro, North Caroline who developed household mainstay, Vick’s VapoRub.  CCL’s mission is to advance the understanding, practice and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide.  Today, it has more than 700 faculty and staff on 11 campuses in 9 countries on 6 continents, serving more than 60,000 leaders and 3,000 organizations annually from more than 100 countries and delivering sustainable results that matter.

As senior vice president of research, evaluation, and societal advancement at CCL, Ms. Martineau serves as the lead relationship manager for highly complex organizational leadership solutions and as lead facilitator for several of CCL’s programs.  Quite personable, Jennifer gave us a glimpse of her personal life as a wife for 29 years, mother of three adult children, professed beach and lake fanatic, and recent convert from cat to dog-lover.  What comes across clearly is her passion for leadership research, and how to apply this in practical and powerful ways for women leaders, many times drawing lessons from her personal experience.

Jennifer’s presentation was rich with strategies for advancement which women can apply personally or as a mentor, sponsor, or women’s initiative leader, from living our intention, to stepping into our power and building our own personal network of mentor and sponsor champions. We have to beat the impostor syndrome, as many times we are the ones who stop ourselves from believing that we can achieve the things we set out to accomplish.  If we do have to slow down because of motherhood or other reasons, we must power down instead of dropping out. Jennifer also reminded us to get fit to lead, to redefine work-life balance, and to take charge of our personal brand.  And finally, we have to start paying it forward so that we can help girls and young women grow into the next generation of women leaders.

Listening intently to Jennifer’s presentation, the 60-strong audience of women leaders (and two men) greatly appreciated the learning session.  Many of them nodded their heads in agreement as she described how one study highlighted that while men and women both displayed bossy behaviour at work, men were usually seen as the boss on the fast track to success, while women were seen as bossy, less popular, and less likely to be promoted.

Another study underlined the “Queen Bee” stereotype where women bosses were perceived as wanting to be special and to be the only one at the top.  Those who did one to help other women were seen as less competent and lower performing than men who value diversity.  It’s a catch-22 situation.

One thing that struck to me was the phrase, “over-mentored but under-sponsored.”  Mentoring certainly helps in developing one’s self-confidence, especially in negotiations and self-promotion, but it is really sponsorship that opens doors as sponsors advocate for developing leaders and create opportunities for advancement for those they are sponsoring. Everyone needs a leg up, and finding the correct sponsors can make the vital difference to success.  When asked how one should go about finding a sponsor, Jennifer urged the companies present to set up a leader sponsorship program.  She also believes that leaders are made, not born, so there is definitely an opportunity for women to become leaders.  And definitely, to kick some glass!

Many thanks to all those who attended, especially the large contingents from Clark Development Corporation (yes, they left at 5am to get to the 8am breakfast meeting), Bases Conversion and Development Authority, Capital One, Sutherland, and TESDA.  Thanks too and hearty congratulations to WomenBIZPH Trustee Leah Caringal for leading the Women Mentoring Women Talks (W2W Talks), and to our secretariat lead by Russel Joy Rivera.  Well done!

 

 

 

 

Children, Family, Food, Gender, Work

TAkot 2018: Happily Never After

October 31, 2018, Alabang.  Yesterday afternoon’s TAkot 2018 was a riot!

Every last Wednesday of the month, TeamAsia celebrates Pop Up, a beloved employee engagement activity where everyone stops work to get together for a few hours of fun, fellowship and camaraderie. It is also a time when birthday celebrants are greeted, and friends break bread (though it was barbecue, noodles and doughnuts yesterday). New employees are welcomed, but first, they have to either perform a talent or butt-spell their name, a hilarious exercise that has everyone cheering them on.

The most awaited of these monthly Pop Ups is Halloween. This time around, we moved Pop Up to Tuesday as many of our employees will be traveling to the provinces today to celebrate Undas, the Filipinos’ way of honoring their dead by visiting the cemeteries and coming together as families to pray and remember loved ones that have gone ahead.

Happily Never After was this year’s theme for TAkot. A twist on musicals that end happily and make everyone believe life is dandy, the theme had everyone thinking creatively of a different and unexpected ending for Halloween. One where you witness something terrifying and unnerving, and you are lucky enough to escape and tell the tale.

Five departments competed in the quest: Creatives with The Lion King, Digital/IT and Web with Moana, Marketing and Accounts with The Wizard of Oz, Experience with Trolls, and Content with The Little Mermaid. With imaginative minds and creative juices working overdrive, the TeamAsians delighted us with their productions, and made my job as judge difficult.  Luckily there were other judges to spread the work around.

The Creative folks danced with abandon, representing the animal kingdom rejoicing the birth of the Lion King, when suddenly they removed their animal costumes and turned into zombies dancing to Michael Jackson’s Bad.

Starting with a video clip from Moana where she saves the island from devastation, the Digital/IT and Web boys danced to their own ditty of “mag walis, mag-bunot, mag-laba, mag-sampay” as their fitting welcome to the triumphant Moana, ably played by Chiara, who they then kill as “women are not allowed on their island.”  Undertones of gender bias, but happily, we have our first female team member in what for the longest time was an exclusive male domain.

Pam’s baby Coco adorably dressed as a princess troll stole the scene from the Experience Department’s performance. Coco didn’t even cry when she was taken from her “dying” Mama Troll Queen’s arms and given to the Troll King as sacrifice.  Abi Bibat ably led the group in singing.

Lynda surprised everyone with her singing for the Wizard of Oz, as the unlikely group of friends, Enzo as the Scarecrow, Joyce as the Tin Man, Erika as the Cowardly Lion, and Patrick as Dorothy hop-skipped their way through the Land of Oz.  Aire as the Wicked Witch of the North and Denise as the Wizard herself completed the cast of characters.  And when Erika the Lion received her badge of courage and stopped being cowardly, she pounced on Dorothy and killed her, then gave away Dorothy’s heart to the Tin Man and her brains to the Scarecrow.  It was indeed a surprise ending, and a hilarious performance.

Content’s Little Mermaid’s story addressed the environmental crisis, weaving in undertones of the ocean’s desecration by the massive garbage and plastic being thrown into the sea. As Johanna, alias Ariel, sang longingly of exchanging her fishtail for feet so she could explore the earth, the other content staff swam, or rather bobbed,  around.  There was Luigi as a seahorse, Tony as a starfish, BeaF as an octopus, Ana as Nemo.  Vince told the story, while the other team members served as extras or production staff; throwing the garbage and blowing bubbles in the air.  Intent on achieving her dream, Ariel goes to Ursula, devilishly played and sang by Axl, complete with sidekicks Flotsam and Jetsam. Ariel gets her wish, while Ursula is caught by a fisherman. And once on dry land, hungry Ariel decides to stop by a kiosk to buy takoyaki, a popular Japanese street food made of octopus balls.  Goodbye Ursula!  A deadly twist indeed, reminding us that the garbage we throw out into the sea, end up in the seafood that we consume.  Hats off to Elton, the master storyteller and scriptwriter!

After the performances, we headed off to the pantry to get food, while the young ones went around to collect goodies.  It was heartwarming to see the little sons and daughters of our staff having fun and playing in TeamAsia.

And we all had fun dressing up!  Bea was the evil queen holding a box with a heart, while I dressed up as Esmeralda of the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  The night before, Bea asked me to make her a crown for her outfit, and I remembered all those halloweens past when my children were young and we dressed up in outrageous costumes.

Soon it was time for butt-spell.  We had a record number of butt-spells this time, with BVernie of Content doing it so fluidly it must have been cursive!  Bea then announced the winners of the competition: Content bagged the first prize, followed by MAD and Creatives.

Takot 2018 was definitely a blast, an occasion for TeamAsians to unleash their creativity while having fun.  I look forward to what our Pop Up team can come up with for the next one.