Celebrating our wonderful impact entrepreneurship community at Impact Happy Hours

Villgro Philippines, xchange, and Ashoka Philippines hosted this year’s Impact Happy Hours in collaboration with The Spark Project, Makesense, Phildev, and WeWork on March 17 at WeWork, RCBC Plaza, Makati City with hopes of providing a space for our community to gather, have fun, and revel in their collective success in the impact game.

With over 40 attendees all giddy at the chance to bond with their fellow impact entrepreneurs and other stalwarts in the space already entering our doors before the event even started, it’s safe to say that Impact Happy Hours was a huge hit!

Villgro’s CEO and Co-founder Priya Thachadi kicked off the event by sharing her love for the community. “This is an event where we gather to share our pains, our wins, and keep moving forward together,” she says.

Following that thoughtful speech, we continued to bring the impact community closer together with a fun little icebreaker which our attendees thoroughly enjoyed.

Running a social enterprise is a 25/7 job so it’s always nice to see our impact entrepreneurs have a little fun on the side. At this point, everyone was able to let loose and were already sippin’ 🍻 and chillin’ 😎. Some of the attendees took the stage to share personal tales as social entrepreneurs and the inspiring work they’re doing.

CEO of FHMoms, MK Bertulfo spoke about the difficulties faced by moms like her and her mission to help such women find economic opportunities to sustain their families. Followed by, Kara Rosas of Lokal Lab Siargao shared how unwavering support from her community is empowering her to continue working towards a sustainable and eco-friendly Siargao. Finally, Danielle Quiwa from Modern Sustainable Solutions (MOSS) ends the session by motivating her peers by saying, “If we want to make an impact, it starts from the little things — step up, be brave, and do what you can.”

Impact Happy Hours looks back on the outstanding work of trailblazers within the impact space in the past year. Thirteen impact entrepreneurs from different industries were nominated by their peers for their commitment to social impact.

However, only one was able to clinch the title of Impact Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 — none other than MK Bertulfo of FHMoms!

Her dedication to empowering Filipino mothers nationwide and abroad warmed our hearts and earned her a landslide of 2,312 votes. An unprecedented turnout! It is clear to anyone that MK is receiving the same amount of love and support that she herself has given to her community. We are thrilled to watch her leapfrog her way to success and earn the recognition she deserves.

As advocates of increased interconnections and collaboration between members of the impact community, we capped the night off with a fun networking session. For the rest of the night, our attendees continued to mingle amongst themselves, forming meaningful ties and potential partnerships with one another.

Creating social impact at scale presents a daunting journey for any individual. Alone we can do so little but together we can do so much.

🥂Cheers to championing Filipino impact entrepreneurs and building relations in the impact community. We look forward to catching a glimpse of your future collaborations. See you at the next one! 😉

About the Author

Martha Jewel R. Gonzales is the Communications Associate at Villgro Philippines and is the hands-on comms person who ensures that our message reaches its audience. You can reach her at martha@villgrophilippines.org