Reflections, remembrance, and awards at 🍸Impact Happy Hours — Year End Special🍸
One of the most anticipated events of the year, 🍸 Impact Happy Hours — Year End Special🍸, was a grand success where members of the Impact Entrepreneurship community in the Philippines got together for some light hearted fun and frolic. Read Raffy’s account of what went down at the event!
Another year has passed and we are still confined to the nuances of the pandemic, albeit slowly recovering and getting used to what we would now refer to as ‘the new normal’. Amidst the challenges that the community in the impact space faced, Villgro Philippines, xchange, and Ashoka Philippines hosted the 🍸Impact Happy Hours — Year End Special🍸 2021 along with partner organizations PhilDev Foundation, Makesense, and The Spark Project. Impact Happy Hours brings together members of the community for a casual get together filled with fun activities, discussions on relevant topics, and celebrating the newly crowned Impact Entrepreneur of the Year.
The event began with welcoming remarks made by Co-founder & CEO of Villgro Philippines, Priya Thachadi who opened the event by briefly explaining how Impact Happy Hours came to be. This was followed by a moment of silence to remember the members of our community who have passed this year, namely Professor Ed Morato, Former Chairman and President of Bayan Academy, Guru and Program Mentor (Master in Entrepreneurship — Social Enterprise Development track-MESEDEV) at Ateneo Graduate School of Business, and Sergio Arroyo, Founder and CEO of Ascendant Technologies. Messages and fond memories were shared through the group chat by those who knew Ed and Sergio.
The event was set in motion by the event host Katherine Khoo, Head of Venture Support and Partnerships at Villgro Philippines with a fun but challenging game as an icebreaker to get the attendees engaged. Up next on the agenda was an insightful panel discussion that reflected on what happened in 2021. The panel discussion shed light on the different perspectives of the different members in the impact space. This was moderated by Greg Perez, Director of xchange, David Pangan, Managing Partner at inBEST Ventures, Nico Pablo - Communications Manager from Ashoka Philippines, and Maan Sicam the Co-founder & President of Happy Helpers.
During the discussion there were many pain points and struggles that the trio uncovered including the lack of support from funders, pivoting to the many challenges the pandemic presented, and learning how to support entrepreneurs in this unique situation. But it also showed the way how the community came together to support one another through tough and trying times.
Once the panel concluded, Makesense, The Spark Project, Ashoka, and Villgro Philippines presented a short video that celebrated the many wins of 2021 within each respective organization. True to the nature of Impact Happy Hours, the host led a networking activity that let the attendees get to know one another. The activity grouped the attendees into 3 teams that had to complete a shopping list using an ecommerce platform. The objective was to have the lowest combined cost indicated on the list. Through teamwork, cunning, and a dash of competitiveness, one group prevailed and the activity was concluded with cheers and merriness.
The culmination of the event was the highly anticipated awarding of the Impact Entrepreneur of the year award. This award was incepted in 2020 to celebrate impact entrepreneurs creating lasting change in the Philippines through their innovative models. The nomination process called for the top 5 entrepreneurs recognized within the space. These 5 entrepreneurs were then voted on exclusively by their peers in the community. The ceremony was opened by last year’s winner, Ryan Gersava, Founder & President of Virtualahan who delivered a message highlighting the importance of celebrating as a community especially in this time of pandemic.
The top 5 included Mark Gersava, Founder & CEO of Bambuhay, Steph Naval, Founder & CEO of Empath, Tamara Mekler and David Cutler, Co-founders of Fortuna Cools, Ruel Amparo, Founder & CEO of Cropital, and finally Zahra Zinjani and Earl Forlales, Co-founders of CUBO Modular. As the dust cleared, and over 200 votes counted, the winner was no other than Mark Gersava who delivered his acceptance speech from the top of a mountain together with his beneficiary community.
The event concluded with all the partner organizations briefly sharing what’s in store for their organizations in 2022. As intimate as it was, the event was successful in bringing the members of the community together to relax, have fun, and maybe have a drink or two. It was wonderful meeting new and old friends again, despite the circumstances and the digital tools that have to be used. If there was one thing that everyone felt during this event, it was that hopefully the next Impact Happy Hours will be celebrated in person where people can really meet and enjoy their time together. After all, the social impact sector is not just a community of peers but a family of radical change makers. Cheers to 2022!
About the Author: Raffy (Rafael Alberto S. Cepeda) is a Program Associate at Villgro Philippines. Raffy is a strong advocate for gender equity, balancing the scales of economic disparity and deeply committed to the cause of social entrepreneurship, making him a champion both on and off the track. Reach him at raffy@villgrophilippines.org
