Social Innovation as Collaborative Solution for Inclusive Growth
Michael Gillis, Chairman of the Board, Castlegen Enterprises; Gus Poston, Co-founder, Bridge (Financial Service); Jennifer Viloria, CEO & Global Social Investor, Inspired Escapes; and Bikram Chaudhury, Managing Director – Investment Banking Division, Credit Suisse
There is hope in the horizon.
In mid-January, 500 captains of industries, government and private sector leaders, impact investors, innovators, and social entrepreneurs, gathered for the 3rd Global Social Business Summit, a 3-day conference hosted by GK Enchanted
Farm in Angat Bulacan, Philippines. The conference theme, “The Business of Kindness: Doing Good Makes Good Business Sense” focused on social innovation in emerging economies as collaborative solution for inclusive growth.
Attendance was a vibrant sectoral mix, with participants from Australia, Europe, the United States, and South America connecting, with the shared intent of creating new and innovative ways and establishing concrete next steps through collaboration and proof-of-concept.
Castleglen’s Michael Gillis was on hand to share his views as a panelist for the session on Scaling Up Social Enterprise to Scale Up Impact. Said Michael, “I am enthralled. I saw things here that said ‘global, global, global. I firmly believe that you will lift this country out of poverty: you have gathered world class people and you are world class.” The Summit provided participants the occasion to meet innovators, sight promising new products and enterprises, either on the pilot stage or ready for scaling up.
The participants also had the unique opportunity to engage with people in an actual beneficiary community, who stand to benefit most from social enterprise. GK Enchanted Farm in Angat Bulacan is situated within a Gawad Kalinga village. Here, the residents are former homeless families living in extreme poverty. Now given the opportunity to live in dignity, they are in the process of a long-term values transformation toward becoming a community of dedicated and empowered people who possess the spirit and the freedom to dream and pursue their dream, made possible through active participation in the social enterprise development plan.
The GK Enchanted Farm, an articulation of the fight against poverty being championed by the Gawad Kalinga movement, is a in real terms an overarching three-dimensional concept; that is, Farm Village University. Farm, as it is a hub for productive economic activities focused on agriculture-based industries; Village, as it showcases the community aspect of economic development, values transformation, and mature social relationships; and University, where the learning, unlearning and relearning is realised through the School for Entrepreneurial and Experiential Development (SEED).
The GK Farm Village University therefore serves as platform for social artists, innovators, and entrepreneurs from different parts of the world to converge towards addressing humanity’s greatest challenges: extreme poverty, food security and environmental sustainability — all in partnership with the least privileged of the world who live the challenges day-to-day; and who, for the solutions to truly work, must not be left behind.
