The Gawad Kalinga Founder Tony Meloto was awarded with one of the most prestigious award-giving body in the world as he was named as a Social Entrepreneur.
The award was given during the World Entrepreneurship Forum in a prestigious annual gala ceremony in Lyon, France. Tony Meloto was one of the “Entrepreneurs for the World 2012.”
The world renowned forum is now on its 5th edition with the theme “Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Cultivating Communities to Drive Wealth Creation and Social Justice.” The forum was held from October 24-27, 2012.
The even attracted more than 200 participants from 59 different countries, it was attended by well-known businessman, social entrepreneurs, policy makers, experts and academics personalities.
The lone awardee from the Philippine Tony Meloto was the founder of Gawad Kalinga, a template for enabling volunteers to build integrated, holistic and most importantly sustainable communities in slum areas across the developing world.
The project was first focused on the Philippines but it grows tremendously with over 2,000 communities across the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia and Papua new Guinea.
Other lists of Awardees:
- Entrepreneur – Mo Ibrahim : Anglo-Sudanese. CeltelFounder, an African telecommunications giant.
- Women Entrepreneur – Aude de Thuin: French. Founder of the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society.
- Policy maker – Irina Bokova: Bulgarian. The first woman to hold the post of Director General of UNESCO.
- Young Entrepreneur – Melissa Kushner: American. The founder of Goods-for-Good in Africa.
