23 May 2024 – The Foundation for a Sustainable Society, Inc. (FSSI) held its 35th General Assembly at the ibis Styles Manila Araneta City in Quezon City on May 23, 2024. The assembly was attended by representatives from all 17 member organizations of FSSI, comprised of civil society organizations and cooperative federations across the country.
The FSSI membership also elected PhilDHRRA and VICTO to their second term as trustees. The Board of Trustees then met to elect the officers for 2024-2025. Mr. Elvin Ivan Uy, Executive Director of Philippine Business for Social Progress (PSBP), Mr. Nestor Carbonera, Vice Chairperson of the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PhilDHRRA), and Ms. Agnes Bolanos of the Mindanao Coalition of Development NGO Networks (MINCODE) were re-elected as Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, and Auditor of FSSI respectively. Mr. Joe Detablan, Chief Executive Officer of the VICTO National Cooperative Federation Development Center (VICTO) was elected Secretary, and Ms. Oyen Dorotan, National Coordinator of WAND Women Organization (WAND) was elected Treasurer. Ms. Nadette Toledo, Chief Executive Officer of MASS-SPECC Cooperative Development Center (MASS-SPECC) and Mr. Nestor Banuag Jr. representing the Partnership of Philippine Support Service Agencies (PHILSSA) also serve in the FSSI Board.
The General Assembly also included a half-day learning session on May 22, 2024, on the current state of social entrepreneurship in the Philippines and insights on the external environment in which we expect SEs and other businesses to operate now and in the near future, with Ms. Zunally Rapada and Dr. Philip Arnold Tuano as resource persons. Representatives of social enterprise partners of FSSI, Mr. Guillermo Bacsa, General Manager of K5 Cooperative, and Ms. Gemma Emata, Managing Director of Trunk to Gold (T2G) Agri, also participated in a panel discussion on best practices, challenges, and support mechanisms for social enterprises. (You may download a copy of the learning paper based on this activity here.)
A brief discussion on the strategic plan of FSSI for the next five years was included in the program of the annual assembly. Based on the discussion, FSSI members determined that FSSI has to 1) adapt in terms of transformational thinking or thinking differently 2) define focus areas for innovations 3) exhibit readiness to do adaptive capacities such as AI and blockchain technology to move with the changing world and 4) focus on developmental programs.
The Foundation is in the process of crafting its Strategic Plan for 2025 to 2029.
