Working together to achieve inclusive growth

In 1993, Maya Angelou read the concluding lines of the poem “On the Pulse of Morning.”

The poem’s themes are change, inclusion, responsibility, and our role in establishing economic prosperity.

Capturing the hope embodied in the human spirit, it was a solemn and joyful reminder that all things are possible and that a new day is dawning.

I would like to thank Atty. Perry Pe for leading MAP in 2016, and the members of last year’s MAP Board of Governors for their valuable contribution to the MAP’s mission of promoting management excellence through nation-building.

MAP’s strategic thrust

In conducting our programs for 2017, the MAP Board will abide by the MAP’s continuing Strategic Thrust with the following three pillars:

Member benefits

Advocacies for:

Good governance

Global competitiveness

Inclusive and sustainable growth

Climate change

Programs for management excellence

As in the past years, our activities this year will be guided by a theme, and our theme for 2017 is “Working Together to Achieve Inclusive Prosperity.”

How do we operationalize the MAP theme?

1. We will commit to the “Moral Imperative of Modern Leadership”—the concept of integrity—doing well by doing good with strategies that reward positive social and environmental outcomes while promising healthy financial returns.

2. We will respond to the “Call to Action” by collaborating on humanitarian and development efforts to reward innovation and critical thinking to deliver economic freedom to the millions who have been left behind.

We will encourage MAP members to heed the urgent call for the “noble vocation” of businesses to help create a more inclusive and humane economy.

Inspired by the need to provide more and better jobs, broader prosperity and lasting ways to help the less fortunate, the MAP will encourage transformative actions and an economic system that promotes growth and spreads its benefits more broadly.

3. We will promote “Decent Work for All” by addressing the growing skills void.

In pursuing its mission of promoting management excellence for nation-building, the MAP will push for reforms and policies that are geared toward eliminating poverty, capitalizing on disruptive technologies, and enabling a more sustainable business environment where everyone has room to succeed.

4. We will harness the “Economic Power of Women” by sharing our learnings to foster a more equitable workforce and provide more opportunity for this critical population.

Priority programs

We in the 2017 Board have agreed to pursue the following Top Five Priority programs for 2017:

First, Traffic management

We plan our lives and schedules based on traffic such that all of us have become time-poor. The traffic problem continues to adversely affect business and employee productivity so we will continue pushing for the implementation of the MAP’s Traffic and Infrastructure Recommendations that were submitted to the government in August 2015 through a paper entitled “Traffic and Transportation Problems of Metro Manila: A Holistic Approach.”

Second, Ease of doing business

We will continue the flagship program of the 2016 Board which is the “Ease of Doing Business” program.

We will continue to offer practical business solutions for government’s consideration that will help improve the business registration/accreditation process and address bureaucratic problems faced by prospective investors.

Third, Entrepreneurship

Through our Emerge Program or the Educated Marginalized Entrepreneurs Resource GEneration Program, we will continue assisting the entrepreneurs who would like to go into businesses which have big potential for growth and job generation.

The Emerge Program today is now blessed with 3 ongoing projects, 19 Partners-in-Mission and 35 Volunteer Mentors.

Fourth, Employment generation

Economically, employment provides income to families, stimulates demand for goods and services, and promotes sustainable growth.

Socially, employment promotes social development, keeps the talent in the country, encourages the immersion of marginalized sectors of society, and improves social welfare.

Fifth, Women empowerment

We have created a Women Empowerment Committee that will address women empowerment issues like the ability of women to enjoy their rights to control and benefit from resources, assets, income and their own time, as well as women’s ability to manage risk and improve their economic status and well-being. This Committee will also be expected to help increase the number of women members of the MAP and help encourage top women executives to go up the ladder and reach the top positions in their respective organizations.

Member Benefits

In order to make the MAP more relevant to its members amidst the rapidly changing environment here and abroad, we will continue to have more interesting learning sessions and more networking fellowship activities this year.

Members’ Participation

As expert business leaders and managers, MAP members will share their talent, time and treasure in our programs that address traffic management, ease of doing business, entrepreneurial development, employment generation, women empowerment, among others.

I call upon each and every MAP member to please support your Board’s efforts and participate in the various activities of the MAP this year.

In closing, I would like to thank my family—my son Ian who is represented by his wife Jhoana and my grandson Ayrton, my daughter Tina and my siblings. I wouldn’t be where I am today without my work family in IBM and of course, Convergys. I am also grateful for the support of my friends from UP, Sigma Delta Phi, Sylk and the SheEOs of the Filipina CEO Circle. Thanks too to my colleagues in the BPO industry, the AmCham and the Integrity Initiative for their support. Finally, I would like to thank the MAP general membership and the 2017 Board of Governors for affording me the honor and privilege of serving as the 3rd woman president and the 68th president of the MAP.

In conclusion, let me leave you with a quote from Pope Francis,

“If we want security, let us give security.

If we want life, let us give life.

If we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities.

The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us.”