My Story

Intro

Changing the world doesn’t always require bulging muscles, quick wit, or an affluent background. All that’s needed is an able body and a gargantuan heart. And with her big heart it was a natural development for Mel to set up the Got Heart Foundation.

About Me

My passionate can be summed up into “SHInDigs” – Sustainability, Holistic development, INdependence and DIGnity. I decided to become a social entrepreneur because of the increasing need to learn how to sustain projects on development. For the past 10 years of working with various NGOs that promote the welfare of orphans, out-of-school youth, indigenous communities, calamity victims and informal settlers, the biggest common problem seems to be the lack of capacity to stand-up on their own. Sadly, some even become highly dependent on donations that they refuse to work despite the availability of opportunities.

This scenario has got me thinking about putting up an NGO that promotes grassroots entrepreneurs. While they are in great need (“needy” as some people might put it), they also have “heart” – they have skills and value waiting to be tapped. With this in mind, I decided to put up a foundation called Got Heart where we have a center that supports members of marginalized communities that has the heart of an entrepreneur.

What fires me up: The possibility that people who were once so marginalized and discriminated are now entrepreneurs that are capable of uplifting lives of other people.  With an enterprise at hand, I believe that they really can be sustainable, holistically developed, independent and dignified - “SHInDigs”

My undergraduate course was AB Development Studies at the Ateneo De Manila University in 2007. Four months off school, I enrolled in the Master in Entrepreneurship program of the Asian Institute of Management and graduated in 2008 to hone the entrepreneurial spirit in me.

My Venture

My enterprise is called Got Heart Foundation. The main thrust is to help uplift the lives of marginalized communities by growing with them as entrepreneurs. Got Heart has a center for social entrepreneurship that teaches grassroots entrepreneurship and management, financial management and hands-on business development.

We also have a store that showcases the products made by our community partners in the center as well. Some of the products include organic cookies, printed shirts, bags, paintings, cards and other cute, fun stuff.

Right now, the communities we’re working with are out-of-school/youth, women, unemployed, farmers and indigenous communities. For the out-of-school/youth sector, we helped them put-up their own textile printing business. They now run and manage and are supported by graphic artists who share their wonderful designs and creativity.  For the women, we help develop products and market them as well. Some of their products include crocheted items like bags and sarongs. For the unemployed, we collaborate with Katinko Ointment to train therapists, maximize human capital and promote wellness.  For the farmers, we help them add value to their products by turning them into cookies and other goodies. We also helped in advocating farmers’ rights by collaborating and helping fund campaign by documentary filmmaker, Ditsi Carolino. For indigenous peoples, we collaborate with amazing artists and artisans, and come-up with products that can be used everyday. Our latest product is the Got Heart 2010 planner featuring 12 indigenous communities in the Philippines. Our way of advocating the rights of indigenous peoples is by promoting their rich culture.