Tony Meloto to discuss Gawad Kalinga's mission to eradicate poverty November 18
Tony Meloto, the founder of Gawad Kalinga, a nongovernmental organization which has helped the country of the Philippines through disaster relief, poverty, and housing and healthcare crises, will speak at UMass Dartmouth, November 18, 2014, at 7:00 p.m., at UMass Dartmouth's Claire T. Carney Library Grand Reading Room. He will discuss his efforts to create a global movement that builds integrated, holistic and sustainable communities in slum areas. Mr. Meloto has been awarded the Social Entrepreneur of the World at the World Entrepreneurship Forum, the Social Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young Philippines, and Filipino of the Year by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, among many other distinguished honors and awards he has received for his work with the Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation, Inc. (GK).
Tony Meloto is the founder of Gawad Kalinga, a movement that builds integrated, holistic and sustainable communities in slum areas with a vision to end poverty for 5 million Filipino families by 2024. At a young age, Tony was exposed to the squalid living conditions of the poor, his home being near a shoreline squatter community where poverty was very pronounced. After graduating from Ateneo de Manila University with a B.A. in Economics, he worked as Purchasing Manager at Procter & Gamble. In 1995, Tony started working with the poor in the slums of Bagong Silang, Caloocan City, through a youth program that has evolved into Gawad Kalinga. GK has been implemented in almost 2,300 communities in the Philippines and other developing countries such as Indonesia, Cambodia and Papua New Guinea.
In November of last year, UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Divina Grossman, born and raised in the Philippines, was joined by students, faculty, staff, the general public, along with Philippines Consul General Ariel Penaranda via Skype, for the "Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines: Environmental and Disaster Management Lessons" teach-in. he goal of the teach-in was to learn and understand the history and geography of the Philippines and the susceptibility of the islands to typhoons, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.
Gawad Kalinga's mission is to end poverty for 5 million families by 2024 through a vision of building a nation empowered by people with faith and patriotism, a nation made up of caring and sharing communities, and dedicated to eradicate poverty and restore human dignity.