CES (bottom L), NADINE (bottom R)
It’s been over a decade since I had the chance to expand my life and goals from profit only to creating social impact and shared wealth for people and the planet. Throughout this journey, I have been blessed to meet different changemakers who mentored me and shared their knowledge and experience.
Despite the even larger challenges today, some may say, “Is there still a point to all this impact work?” Lucky for me, the world is bright, and I still feel hopeful because there are many other changemakers growing and developing their sense of purpose and their projects. The spirit of stewardship actively grew within me and continues to grow within different people, and the collective impact has a wide reach on creation.
Here are four others whom I’ve had the privilege of working with and watching from a distance as they made adjustments and put in huge efforts to develop their own initiatives.
1. Issa Barte, For the Future
I first met Issa as a guest on one of our MAD tours. In 2018, she was already immensely talented in the fields of art and communication. She had quite an online following for being truthful and able to create beautiful images.
Over time, she fell in love with different communities and their contexts—Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao—and led numerous programs to improve the world.
Her first fundraiser was for the forest – to support the Yangil community’s agroforestry and reforestation…and then she took on very challenging programs during covid as she collaborated with other leaders to take on calamity relief during the storms that ravaged the Philippines in 2020 and 2021. She continued to help reforest Yangil – contributing a considerable portion of the 88,000 trees planted in the last 3 years.
Thousands, including myself, were moved, inspired, and awed at how determined she was (and continues to be) to create a better world using her talents.
Today, she is one of three National Geographic Explorers who co-founded the Philippine Youth Atlas with Gab Mejia and Tasha Tanjutco. They curate and co-create stories with over 700 young people from Indigenous and frontline communities across the archipelago. Their work was displayed in Museo Pambata and has moved many hearts to love and understand Filipino communities more.
2. Jermaine Lois Choa Peck
I met Jerms at The Circle Hostel in 2018 when she was helping with events. Back then, she was a football athlete at UP and was growing her music and art skills. Throughout the years, Jerms became a commercial model and member of a star band, The Ranson Collective.
Despite the pace of their concerts and the time needed for events, Jerms also made time to grow her interest in the environment and culture of the tribes. She visited Bukidnon with the Aetas to meet the Tala’andig tribe, which shared their stories and methods of restoration. She quickly warmed up to the musical nature of the community.
After learning in Bukidnon, Jerms continued to raise funds for reforestation. They helped build a plastic waste reduction, segregation, and recycling movement called The Plastic Solution, which collected 10 tonnes of plastic.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, she continued her music but also learned soil restoration at Sambali Beach Farm and led environmental programs to help communities build livelihoods and restore soil.
Today, Jerms is working on cultural documentation through music and art plus organizing a music concert for the environment
3. Cecille Villena, Permaforest
Ces and I met a few years back when she volunteered for our reforestation program. She brought a lot of bright ideas and could mobilize resources and people to help the community… Best of all, she was willing to rough it out.
After Ces’ graduation, she worked with an NGO and, recently, during the pandemic, established a private reforestation and conservation initiative in Bataan with some of her friends.
I had the chance to visit her site and was amazed at how she and her friends are mobilizing their resources, knowledge, and skills to enhance degraded land and support smallholder farmers in the process.
Their love for native plants and the scientific process is on full display here, and while it’s still early, I can see that their group has the fundamentals to make restoration a reality.
4. Nadine Lustre
I didn’t know much about Nadine in 2020/2021—just that she was in the industry and very interested in the environment. So when I had the chance to collaborate with her on the 88K trees program in Yangil, my team and I were very excited about her support.
Over the past years, I’ve had the chance to meet her on the field with the Aetas and in different places in the Philippines. Every time we meet, it’s because of an initiative that helps the environment or people’s health.
After the crowdfunding for trees, we started talking about mangrove protection in Siargao, plastic recycling/waste reduction, and eventually eating more vegetables, which she and her boyfriend Chris do a wonderful job of championing through the vegan restaurant _ in Siargao (which has amazing food!!!) and now with their De-husk coconut milk brand.
Nadine has so many talents, and yet she devotes time to push initiatives that can make our country better. She doesn’t have to….but she does so anyway, and this has also inspired tens of thousands (probably even more) and generated a lot of interest in the environment on a scale that wasn’t present when I started doing this kind of work in 2015.
These four bright stories encourage and excite me to pursue restoration—zero poverty, zero carbon, zero exclusion—as I know others are making great efforts and investments in the country’s future. All of these women had other opportunities and could have spent their time and talent elsewhere, yet they continue to push for a better, more sustainable future.
So, while times and news are tough or bleak, remember that there are bright stars growing and that the spirit moves different people to do good for our beloved Philippines.
You can follow and contact them here:
Issa: issa@forthefuture.org.ph / https://www.instagram.com/issabarte.art/ https://www.forthefuture.org.ph/
Jerms: jchoapeck@gmail.com / jerms@madearth.org / https://www.instagram.com/jermainelois/
Ces: cmfvillena@gmail.com / https://www.instagram.com/cesvillena_/
Nadine: https://www.instagram.com/nadine/
About the author:
Raf works on the regenerative economy transition with indigenous people, farmers and fisherfolk through ecosystem restoration, food security, agroforestry and low carbon construction. A 4x TEDx speaker on sustainability , he has planted over 90,000 trees, collected over 11 tons of plastic waste, and won awards for work on biochar, reforestation and waste reduction. He provides services to help companies implement ESG programs and to schools to provide real sustainability experiences for students.
raf@madearth.org and www.madtravel.org @rafdionisio
Rafael Dionisio wrote his first White Butterfly article in May 2024. https://www.whitebutterfly.ph/2024/05/01/a-dream-to-restore-paradise
Raf, one of your bright attributes is the ability to identify talent n catalyze with a multiplier effect. This is demonstrated in your meeting and working with these 4 ladies who committed to achieved environmentally cum livelihood impact, esp with underserved IPs.
God bless you and your ilk more!