Reigniting social entrepreneurs’ passion through BPI Sinag

BPI Foundation, the social development arm of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), recently launched a new pivot challenge for BPI Sinag, its social entrepreneurship program. Entitled “Sinag Reignite: Reimagining, Repositioning, and Restrategizing Social Enterprises,” the challenge taps the program’s alumni in strengthening the entrepreneurship ecosystem it has built six years ago.

BPI Foundation Executive Director Owen Cammayo said social entrepreneurship, which advocates for the pursuit of the triple bottom-line of people, planet, and profit, has become more important now as the pandemic continues to disrupt millions of lives.

“This year, we are in a unique position to create opportunities from the challenges caused by the pandemic. These challenges may be daunting, but this is an occasion for us to help empower and enable you guys to innovate and pivot your businesses. We wish to help you create more impact not just on the communities you serve, but for the whole Filipino community,” BPI Foundation Executive Director Owen Cammayo said during his opening remarks.

In collaboration with Bayan Academy, BPI Sinag welcomed 44 social enterprises to the challenge. They will be participating in several design sprint courses intended to help them rebuild and strengthen their enterprises. A design sprint is an intense process of generating insights, ideation, prototyping, and testing solutions.

Dr. Eduardo Morato, Jr., the Philippines’ entrepreneurship guru, emphasized the importance of innovation amid these trying times. “Business is a constantly changing animal. Things never stand still. There's no such thing as a free ride here. The biggest problem of SEs is not actually finance but people resources,” he said.

Hoping to empower the social entrepreneurs through the “Sinag Reignite,” Mr. Cammayo said, “Now is the time to reimagine, reposition, and re-strategize your social enterprises to become more relevant. You are now called to reignite your passion to serve, your motivation to create, and your mission to uplift lives.”

The ten social enterprises who best showcase their business viability and social impact will be named as awardees of the “Sinag Reignite.” The top five enterprises will receive P500,000 each, while the other half will get P200,000 cash grants for their businesses.