Social Business Academia Dialogue & 3ZERO Club Convention 2024 held in Manila, Philippines

• Miscellaneous
• 30th June 2024
• YC

Press Release 30 June 2024

The Academia Dialogue was hosted by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and organized by the Yunus Centre at the Asia Pacific College in Manila, Philippines on 29 June, 2024. The dialogue was in mutual collaboration with the Asia Pacific College, Manila, Philippines aimed to bring together social business practitioners, academics, promoters, and colleagues from all around the world. The event will provide a platform for impactful stakeholders to learn & engage in dialogue, exchange ideas, and gain insights from a global perspective, contributing to the global message of integration, community empowerment, and addressing social issues through socially conscious business solutions.

Dr. Ma. Teresita P. Medado, President, Asia Pacific College, Philippines, Emeritus Professor Dato' Dr. Abd Aziz Tajuddin, Vice Chancellor & President, Albukhary International University, Malaysia, Lt Gen VK Sharma, AVSM (Retd), Pro Chancellor, Amity University Madhya Pradesh, India and Lamiya Morshed, Executive Director, Yunus Centre, Bangladesh spoke at the welcoming session and talked about the role of academia in nurturing young minds to tackle real life problems.

The first panel focused on promoting entrepreneurship in academia. Panelists such as Mr. Alex Counts, Founder, Grameen Foundation and Independent Consultant to Nonprofit Organizations, Mr. Erwin Lizarondo, Philippine Hub Initiator, HEC Social Business Creation, Flourishing Enterprise Co-lab, Adjunct Faculty, Asian Institute of Management, Philippines, Mr. Rodmark Barriga, President, Society for the Advancement of Professional Social Entrepreneurship (SAPSE),  Co-founder and current CEO of Palamigan Co, Philippines and Ms. Paula Mills, CEO and Founder, The Academy of Entrepreneurs, Australia talked about practical industry experience and taking an initiative in solving problems in your own communities as a start.

A series of collaboration agreements and announcements of new initiatives were shared by Dr. Bordin Rassameethes, Director, Yunus Social Business Centre, Kasetsart University, Thailand, Dr. Farhana Sidek: Senior Lecturer and Assistant Dean for Entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Economics and Management, The National University of Malaysia, Malaysia, Mr. Cyril Mapula, Director, Innovation Programs at Foundation University, Philippines, Mr. Michael Jack Meallem, Manager at Payap Yunus Social Business Centre, Co-founder and Director of the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) at Payap University, Thailand, Professor Lin, Ying-Shing: Professor, of Accounting Information Systems & Advisor of Yunus Social Business Center, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan and Mr. Biswajit Ghosh: Global Director of Partnerships for the Rotary Action Group for Community Economic Development, India.

Professor Muhammad Yunus encouraged students and academics at the dialogue to keep the vision of trying to attain a world of zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero net carbon emissions and embrace the skill of social business as a survival skill.

Afterwards The 3ZERO Club Convention was held in the same venue. The 3Zero Club iinitiative has flourished to encompass over 4000+ Clubs spanning 56 countries. This community comprises nearly 19,,000 young leaders who lead with compassion, addressing local challenges with practical and frugal solutions.

The 3ZERO Club Convention is an annual gathering for youth from around the world to present their vision, share experiences, and insights on realizing a sustainable and just future. It serves as a platform to reinforce their commitment to building a world of three zeros. Moreover, attendees will have the opportunity to showcase their impactful actions and initiatives undertaken to enhance communities at local and international levels.

Featuring keynote speeches, panel sessions, and an award ceremony, the Convention will welcome leaders, professionals, and experts from the Social Business and 3ZERO Club network. Notably, 150 participants engages with Professor Muhammad Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate and founder of Grameen Bank, and 3ZERO Club members during the event.

A panel discussion with three 3Z club members took place that discussed the experience of the key leader of each of the three clubs one each from Taiwan, Malaysia and Philippines. There was a second panel on “Guiding Growth on the Journey to Cultivating Youth Leaders for a 3ZERO World” was held with speakers such as Julie Jen, Planning Specialist, Foundation for Yunus Social Business Taiwan, Taiwan, Raymond Serios, Director for Admin and Strategic Projects, Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Philippines, Sanjay Kumar Mandal, CEO, Jeevan Bikas, Nepal, Dr. Suraya Hanim Mokhtar, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Innovation, Albukhary International University, Malaysia, Biswajit Ghosh, CEO, Rotary India Literacy Mission, India. The panelists shared their experiences . 

Awards were given for the best 3ZERO Clubs, Support Persons and Support Organizations and affiliated orgranizations.  Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus urged all 3ZERO Club members to cross collaborate with other clubs, embrace each other’s diversity, think “how you can do it better”, then raise awareness and practice finding solutions for the problems in their own communities.

Caption for Photo 1: The Academia Dialogue concludes in Manila, Philippines. The event was held in Manila on June 29, 2024 at the Asia Pacific College in the Philippines. The event featured 2 panel sessions where esteemed academics featured their presentations on their activities and pressing issues.

Caption for Photo 2: Professor Muhammad Yunus with the students from Asia Pacific college, the co-organizer of the Academia Dialogue 2024.

Caption for Photo 3: Professor Muhammad Yunus, Chairman, Yunus Centre   inaugurated this year Academia Dialogue at Asia Pacific College, Manila, Philippines with his keynote Speech highlighting the role of academia for creating a sustainable future.

Caption for Photo 4:  Opening Session of Academia Dialogue 2024  with a panel of speaker such as  Professor Muhammad Yunus, Chairman, Yunus Centre, Dr. Ma. Teresita P. Medado, President, Asia Pacific College, Philippines, Emeritus Professor Dato' Dr. Abd Aziz Tajuddin, Vice Chancellor & President, Albukhary International University, Malaysia, Lt Gen VK Sharma, AVSM (Retd), Pro Chancellor, Amity University Madhya Pradesh, India and Ms. Lamiya Morshed, Executive Director, Yunus Centre, Bangladesh

Caption for Photo 5: The 3ZERO Club Convention 2024 concludes in Manila, Philippines. The 3ZERO Club initiative has flourished to encompass over 4,000 clubs spanning 56 countries. The 3ZERO Club Convention is an annual gathering for youth from around the world to present their vision, share experiences, and offer insights on realizing a sustainable and just future.

Caption for Photo 6: Al Bukhary University in Malaysia was awarded the Best Affiliating Institution at the 3ZERO Club Convention 2024.

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