A Renewed Role in the Philippine Social Enterprise Movement
Elvin Ivan Y. Uy
FSSI Chairperson
Dear colleagues,
We present to you in this newsletter the Foundation for a Sustainable Society, Inc. (FSSI)’s Annual Report for 2023.
I am delighted to share with you that in the past year, FSSI recorded a comprehensive income of 8.1 million pesos, an increase of 4.2 million from the previous year. While this growth was primarily driven by gains from our commercial portfolio, our development portfolio, which we invest in social enterprises, saw an 11% increase, settling at 283 million pesos from 255 million in 2022.
In 2023, we invested in 38 social enterprises across the country, including ten new partners. Aligned with our commitment to gender lens investing and women economic empowerment, 64% of the social enterprises we have supported in the past year, at the receiving end of 66% of our development portfolio, are owned and/or led by women. This was partly the result of the successful implementation of the first three years of our partnership with Investing in Women, an initiative supported by the Australian Government. Under this project alone, we have disbursed 88 million pesos to 17 women social enterprises by December 2023.
Our work in the SE sector as a support institution looks at financing as a means not only to sustain and grow local enterprises financially but also to actively engage them towards greater economic participation of the marginalized sectors in value chains and the sustainable management of our local ecosystems. For almost three decades now, the triple bottom line (3BL) of people, planet, and profit has been our standard of social entrepreneurship. In the midst of evident climate crisis which affects the most vulnerable, we are now more conscious about the impact of our investments.
On this front, the 2023 annual report of FSSI features the first baseline data on the 3BL performance of our partner social enterprises – among others, their contributions in job generation, community development, and in the areas of environmental initiatives such as renewable energy and the use of organic and environmentally safe methods in farming.
Apart from our Annual Report, in this newsletter, we also provide updates from our General Assembly (GA) last May 22-23, 2024, which was attended by close to 70 representatives from our partners and members. Part of our GA was a learning session on the state of social entrepreneurship in the Philippines, insights on the external environment in which we expect SEs and other business to operate in the near future, and a sharing of best practices, challenges, and support mechanisms for social enterprises to thrive in this context. A paper summarizing the highlights of this session is also included in this newsletter.
During the GA, we also welcomed the new Board of Trustees of FSSI. It is my pleasure to continue to serve alongside my fellow trustees, Mr. Nestor Carbonera of the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PhilDHRRA), Vice Chairperson, Mr. Joe Detablan of VICTO National Cooperative Federation Development Center (VICTO), Secretary, Ms. Oyen Dorotan of WAND Women Organization (WAND), Treasurer, Ms. Agnes Bolaños of Mindanao Coalition of Development NGO Networks (MINCODE), Auditor, and Ms. Nadette Toledo of the MASS-SPECC Cooperative Development Center (MASS-SPECC). We also welcome to the FSSI Board, Mr. Nestor Banuag Jr., the new representative of the Partnership of Philippine Support Service Agencies’ (PHILSSA), also serving as a member of the FSSI Board.
I would also like to take this opportunity to honor our colleague, former Trustee and Treasurer of FSSI, Mr. Benedict “Dick” Balderrama. Dick had represented PHILSSA in FSSI since 2007. He served as member of the Board of Trustees since May 2022, as FSSI Treasurer since May 2023, and as an active member of various committees in FSSI for many years. Dick lived the preferential option for the poor, working with urban communities, and the basic sectors across the country, most recently through Biyayang Lokal and the Rural-Urban Market Linkage (RUML) Project, an initiative shared by PHILSSA, FSSI, and other partners in the CSO and cooperative sectors which aims to bridge small producers to markets in greater Manila. His was a life of service which we can only aspire to, and his contributions to FSSI for the past 17 years will always remain invaluable to us.
We will conclude our current five-year strategic plan this year. Beginning with a discussion during the GA, we initiated the process of determining our strategic directions for the next five years – pondering on the very same question that led to the creation of this Foundation nearly three decades ago – how do we improve and enrich the lives of those on the margins of society? The answer, however, is in doing. I enjoin you then to continue working with us in supporting the Philippine social enterprise movement. Get behind a movement of farmers, fisherfolk, workers, enterprising poor, women, and the youth making concrete impact in their own transformation as social and economic actors and in the lives of those in their community.
I echo the message I gave to the membership and leadership of FSSI during our annual assembly, let us all come together as we chart the best path forward, for the sustainability of our foundation and the benefit of all the communities we serve through our support to and social investments in 3BL enterprises.
