Kwan Laurel Endowment Fund for the Ateneo Center for Social Entrepreneurship launched

Ateneo de Manila University signed a memorandum of agreement with Mr Robby Kwan Laurel on Tuesday, 9 July 2024. The MOA will see Mr Kwan Laurel, founder and former CEO of Sunfu Solutions and an Ateneo alumnus, make a donation to support social entrepreneurship and collaborative efforts between the SOH, JGSOM, and the Ateneo Center for Social Entrepreneurship (ACSEnt), through a multi-disciplinary approach to entrepreneurship and research.

This donation, called the Kwan Laurel Endowment Fund for the Ateneo Center for Social Entrepreneurship, is dedicated to the memory of Mr Kwan Laurel’s grandfather Mr Tiu Ching Po, also known as Mr Victor Tiu Laurel. The latter migrated to the Philippines at the age of 13 and taught himself English, Spanish, and the local languages. Even after he became a copra tycoon, establishing friendships with the likes of President Manuel Quezon and President Jose P Laurel, he always had the poor and oppressed, especially in his home province, in his mind and heart. 

Present at the signing from Ateneo were Fr Roberto C Yap SJ, University President; Fr Jose VC Quilongquilong, member of the Ateneo Board of Trustees; Dr Patricia Lambino, Dean of the School of Humanities (SOH); Dr Roberto Martin Galang, Dean of the John Gokongwei School of Management (JGSOM); Fr Norberto Bautista SJ, Director of the Office of University Development and Alumni Affairs (OUDAA); Dr Norman Tanchingco, Head of Advancement for the OUDAA; Dr Jonathan Chua, former Dean of the School of Humanities; Ms Ana Marina Tan, Director of ACSent; and Ms Maria Teresa D Villanueva, Director of University Marketing and Communications.

Meanwhile, Mr Kwan Laurel was accompanied by his wife, Dr Arjorie "Joy" Y Laurel; and their daughter Ms Nadine Y Kwan Laurel. Dr Joy Laurel was part of the first generation of Ateneo's Bukas Palad Choir. Meanwhile, Ms Nadine Kwan Laurel graduated from Ateneo’s BS Management Honors program in 2018 and spent two years teaching in underserved areas as a public school teacher.

“We are very grateful to the Kwan-Laurel family for providing this tremendous endowment to the Ateneo Center for Social Entrepreneurship,” stated Dr Galang, JGSOM Dean, in his opening remarks. “When we started the talks with Robby, it became clear that he really wants to support the University and all of the different communities that we have here.”

“And so we’re quite excited to initiate this partnership agreement with him because I think his contribution will support a lot of social enterprise development because this sector is among the more active yet more neglected sectors in the country,” he added.

Dean Lambino also had some words of thanks to say. In addition to thanking Mr Kwan-Laurel, she also thanked those who helped make the endowment happen, including Dean Galang for working on the proposal and her predecessor, former Dean Chua for introducing her to Mr Kwan-Laurel in the first place.

In her speech, Dean Lambino brought up several parables from the Gospel including the Parable of the Sower, where she equated the endowment to sowing seeds on fertile ground.

Ateneo de Manila President Fr Yap also thanked Mr Kwan Laurel for the endowment for ACSent.

“I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Robby Kwan-Laurel,” Fr Yap stated. “Your generous contributions and unwavering dedication to Ateneo de Manila have significantly uplifted our community.”

Fr Yap also brought up the previous endowments that Mr Kwan Laurel gifted to Ateneo. The first of these was in April of 2022 with the Kwan Laurel Endowment Fund for the Humanities. This endowment fund, established in honor of Mr Kwan Laurel's parents, Roberto and Erlinda, was aimed at supporting lectures, workshops, and similar engagements to aid in the SOH's development.

The second big donation came in December of 2022 when Mr Kwan Laurel made another donation to Ateneo and the SOH. A part of this new donation—called the Kwan Laurel Grant for Promising PhDs—was allocated to the continuing education of seven faculty members of the SOH who were finishing their doctorates at the time. Another part went to the Kwan Laurel Grant for Creative and Research Work in the Humanities, which was meant to support projects that had not been prioritized for funding by other grants within and outside Ateneo.

As part of these, Fr Yap noted Mr Kwan Laurel’s continuing support for the humanities—an integral part of Ateneo’s core curriculum.

“Very few benefactors really support the humanities,” stated Fr Yap. 

“We have a category in the Ateneo called ‘culture bearers,’ and I think we nominate you [Mr Kwan Laurel] as a culture bearer,” he added. “Because you are a manager, certainly, you’re a business leader; but you are an entrepreneur, a social entrepreneur, and you are very strong in the humanities. So it is a great combination.”

Following the signing, the Ateneo officials presented Mr Kwan Laurel with a token of appreciation—a statue of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of Ateneo de Manila. 

Afterward, the attendees posed for photos. In particular, Mr Kwan Laurel and his wife posed with Fr Bautista, as he was the priest who officiated their wedding, and Fr Quilongquilong, who had flown in from Cebu for the signing. Mr Kwan Laurel had first met Fr Quilongquilong when the latter was soliciting funds for the elderly Jesuits and the Loyola Retreat House in Angono.