UNFAZED At the height of the pandemic, AHA! Learning Center gave out learning supplies via its volunteer network of parents. —PHOTOS BY AHA! LEARNING CENTERErika Tatad, venture manager at Ashoka Philippines, explains that candidates go through multiple rounds of interviews to ensure their credibility, ethics and sustainability of their organization. “We need to be thorough in the process because an Ashoka fellowship is a lifetime commitment,” she says.
“There seems to be a gap [in the quality of education]. It looks like there’s no hope [in underserved communities],” he says in an interview with Inquirer. “Our goal is to eradicate illiteracy.” When the pandemic hit, it threatened to upend all of Zulueta’s hard work. However, he didn’t back down; he mobilized his team for emergency solutions to ensure that access to education would not be disrupted. He quickly crowdsourced across his networks. Hundreds of Filipinos volunteered their resources, time and skills to create modules and train teachers.
“My work has definitely been cut out for me,” Oposa shares with the Inquirer. From a young age, she fell in love with the ocean. Her father, Antonio “Tony” Oposa, a well-known environmental lawyer and 2009 Ramon Magsaysay honoree, has instilled in her the responsibility of protecting the environment.
A few months prior to graduation, Oposa was chosen to join the Philippine delegation to the UN Climate Change Conference, gaining her first experience in multilateral negotiations.