ACSEnt connects grassroots social enterprises with mentors

The Ateneo Center for Social Entrepreneurship (ACSEnt) engages with grassroots social enterprises through the provision of mentors that help social enterprises address areas where their business operations are challenged.

IDEAS Palawan
The Institute for the Development of Educational and Ecological Alternatives, Inc (IDEAS) is a Nongovernment Organization formed in Silang, Cavite in 1985 by social development men and women at the height of the massive call for the restoration of democracy in the Philippines. It started its development work with Peasants in Cavite in 1986 and expanded its program in 1987 with the Indigenous Peoples known as Mangyans in the Province of Oriental Mindoro. It has helped establish People’s Organizations and has promoted environmentally sensitive farming systems and technologies. In 1997, it started its program in the Province of Palawan that led to the development and subsequent implementation of a program around Sustainable Agriculture promotion among Indigenous as well as non-indigenous farmers in selected areas in the Province.  Currently, IDEAS maintains offices and programs in the three provinces of Cavite, Oriental Mindoro, and Palawan.

Working with ACSEnt
IDEAS Palawan made an approach to ACSEnt to explore ways in which ACSEnt can provide assistance with the community-based enterprises they support. The challenge was to be able to assess the market potential of the community commodities, identify market demand for raw materials produced by IDEAS and its community partners, recommend priority commodities based on market assessment and formulate an enterprise organizational business model for IDEAS. 

JGSOM Mentoring Pool
The faculty of JGSOM has been a rich resource of trainers and mentors for ACSEnt in the areas of research, training and business development. They have been able to cater to social enterprises in different stages of growth, coming from a variety of industries. 

Raymund Aaron is a JGSOM faculty member from the Marketing and Law department. He is also a practicing social entrepreneur running the social enterprise, Villa Socorro Farms in Laguna. Raymund was the perfect person to pair with IDEAS Palawan as he was well-versed in the development and creation of sustainable agricultural products, its marketing and promotion while having the heart for the plight of the smallholder farmer. 

Palawan Visit
Raymund flew to Palawan where he met with the IDEAS core team. While there, he did community enterprise visits and a quick local market scan. This was coupled with an external analysis and a scoping study of potential markets for IDEAS and community enterprises.  Based on these and through collaborative consultation with ACSEnt and IDEAS, Raymund was able to propose a business plan and recommended ways forward for IDEAS and the community enterprises that they support.  

Ways forward
Although the engagement with IDEAS was contracted for only 2 months, the relationship doesn’t stop there.  ACSEnt through the work that it does in supporting social enterprises and the access to mentorship from social entrepreneurs like Raymund, remains. These collaborations form a network of support that continues even beyond the contract validity. It further strengthens the bonds formed between social enterprises and social enterprise supporters through a culture of helping formed by a common goal that espouses the creation of businesses for good.