Our country is among the most unequal in wealth and income distribution in Asia, such that it is often associated with its more distant cousins in Latin America. World Bank data on Gini index—which goes from 0 (perfect equality) to 100 (perfect inequality)—indicate that the Philippines’ index is 43, compared with Thailand’s 40 (as of 2009), Indonesia’s 34 (2005), and Vietnam’s 36 (2008).
In its broadest sense, social entrepreneurship is about innovative solutions to social problems. In countries like the Philippines where poverty and inequality are worsening despite economic growth, innovative solutions to these problems are not only desired but are also urgent.
Much of my life appears to have been absolutely random. I read too many stories, played too many street games, drew on too many surfaces, and transferred to too many schools. Like a renaissance woman who knew a little about a lot, I was a Jill of all trades but a master of none. Shamelessly ambitious, I never knew what I wanted to be because I was asked to pick just one.
Little heralded, or even known, in this country was an event that took place halfway across the globe last week. That was the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, “the Davos of doing good,” which culminated in the presentation of the Skoll Awards at the New Theater in Oxford, England. The awards are the Nobel Prize of sorts for social entrepreneurship and carry the same cash prize of $1 million. Four organizations won it this year. One of them is Gawad Kalinga.
