Nurturing tri-sector leaders to develop sustainable solutions to the world’s big problems

About 70 representatives from the Philippines civil society sector, government, academic community, SMU students and alumni, attended the launch of the Ayala Master of Tri-Sector Collaboration (MTSC) Scholarship at the Ayala Museum in Manila on 28 September 2015.

Mr. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Chairman and CEO of Ayala Corporation and SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer sealed the partnership during the launch.

Among the dignitaries present were Her Excellency Kok Li Peng, Ambassador of the Republic of Singapore to the Philippines; His Excellency Roland van Remoortele, Ambassador of Belgium to the Philippines; Mr. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Chairman and CEO of Ayala Corporation; SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer; Mr. Ruel T. Maranan, President of Ayala Foundation and Mr Washington Sycip, Founder, SGV Group.

Professor Ann Florini, Academic Director of the MTSC programme at SMU, shared with the audience her insights on the power of tri-sector cooperation between government, society, and business as a catalyst for change in Asia.

In his Opening Remarks, Mr Ruel Maranan, President of Ayala Foundation said, “Through this scholarship, we encourage members of Philippine civil society and government to further hone their knowledge and skills in working closely with government, business, and the non-profit sectors covered by the SMU course. At the end of the 18 months dedicated to studies at SMU, it is our hope to see our scholars coming back to the country to make a stronger, more lasting contribution to the great cause of partnerships for nation building,”

SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer said in his Welcome Address, “This partnership with Ayala Foundation is testimony of the strong and collaborative relationship between SMU and Ayala, as well as the quality and rigor of our MTSC program, the first of its kind in the world. We look forward to welcoming the first batch of scholarship recipients to our campus next year.

“The number of SMU graduates is increasing, and we are mindful of the important role our alumni can play in strengthening SMU’s linkages with the Philippines. Therefore, I am happy to say that we plan to set up a SMU alumni chapter in the Philippines in the coming months. This will be a valuable addition to the other alumni chapters we have around the world, such as in Beijing, Shanghai, London, New York, and Dubai,” he added.

[Caption: (L-R) SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer, His Excellency Roland van Remoortele, Ambassador of Belgium to the Philippines, Her Excellency Kok Li Peng, Ambassador of the Republic of Singapore to the Philippines.]

[Caption: (L-R) His Excellency Roland van Remoortele, Ambassador of Belgium to the Philippines; Mr Washington Sycip, Founder, SGV Group; Mr. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Chairman and CEO of Ayala Corporation; SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer.]

The scholarship is housed under the education arm of the Ayala Foundation and will provide financial assistance to its scholars pursuing the Ayala Master of Tri-Sector Collaboration post-graduate degree.

The recipient of the scholarship should be a citizen of the Philippines and a member of a civil society organization or the Philippine government. The applicant must demonstrate leadership qualities and aptitude to excel in the programme, and have the potential to contribute to the bigger community. Up to four scholarships will be available every year for the next five years, each scholarship shall have up to a total value of between S$25,000 and S$50,000. The first scholarship will be awarded to students enrolled in the 18-month program commencing in January 2016.

[Caption: (seated L-R) Director of Advancement Chan Wai Leng, SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer, Academic Director of Master of Tri-Sector Collaboration Professor Ann Florini and Senior Associate Director Patricia Pereira with SMU students and alumni at the launch of the Ayala Master of Tri-Sector Collaboration Scholarship in Manila.]

In his Closing Remarks, Mr Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, CEO of Ayala Corporation, and a member of the SMU Board of Trustees said, “Our partnership with SMU is a strategic expression of our support for the global Filipino—committed to national development, but also highly attuned to what goes on in the rest of the world, and able to harness these for the benefit of everyone. It is also our way of strengthening our relationship with the rest of our ASEAN neighbors, one of the most exciting regions for economic and social development.”

Mr Ayala said that one of the hallmarks of the company’s 180-year history is its strong commitment to nation building through education. As early as the 1860s, a member of the Ayala family founded a school dedicated to educating young ladies who came from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. “We believe in the importance of investing in education—it stands to benefit not only the children and teachers, but also helps build our human capital, which will then comprise a competent, highly skilled workforce.”

Mr Ayala recounted the Group’s educational initiatives which now extends to virtually all levels of education.

The Ayala Foundation has established two Centres of Excellence in Public Elementary Education where bright children from poor communities are provided with a holistic learning environment in the public elementary school sector.

The Ayala Foundation and Globe Telecom have teamed up for the Text2Teach program which provides engaging educational videos for grade 5 and 6 students, in such subjects as English, Mathematics, and Science, as well as Values Education. For high school, Ayala Education, is now actively expanding the reach of the Affordable Private Education Center to provide affordable but high-quality private high school education for Filipinos. Recently, Ayala acquired a 60-percent stake in the University of Nueva Caceres, one of the top universities in the Bicol region. The partnership with SMU on the MTSC programme extends Ayala’s education efforts to the postgraduate level.

About the Master of Tri-Sector Collaboration programme

The Master of Tri-Sector Collaboration is the world’s only advanced degree programme in professionalising partnership development and management. It empowers emerging leaders from the private, public and people sectors to work together to develop sustainable solutions to the world’s big problems.

This integrated programme provides a toolkit of collaborative and management skills to deal with a future of increasing complexity and scarce resources. Interdisciplinary training will come from both academic faculty and professional practitioners. Participants will be able to build up their network with peers from all three sectors across the region. This modular 18-month programme is conducted in 11 intensive weeks over 7 sessions of 1-2 weeks per session.

Modules provide rigorous training in topics such as partnership mindsets, global trends, personal leadership, leading change from the middle of an organisation, futures methodologies, and complexity science. Students undertake Capstone projects that address real-world challenges requiring tri-sectoral collaboration to solve.