Romeo Arahan, Jr.

Romeo or Meong graduated with a degree in Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University. During college, he was involved in Kaingin, an organization advocating social justice through education by providing formation seminars and member development trainings. He served as their Vice President for Formations.

He initially joined SEDPI as a program officer delivering technical and mentoring assistance to various clients all over the Philippines. He was also one of the training associates of the Ateneo Microfinance Capacity Building Program. Along with his teammates, he also conducted several researches including a research on typhoon microinsurance.

He took a short break from development work and entered the real estate industry. He worked as a project development associate in one of the largest real estate companies in the Philippines. He was responsible for the overall management of two economic housing projects in Metro Manila. During this time, he honed his skills in project management and financial analysis. He ventured into real estate research when he joined an international company as a research analyst. He was responsible for providing quarterly updates on the Philippine real estate market. As such, he was invited by various real estate companies and investment firms to provide grounded and market-based opinions on the real estate market. In his stint with Colliers, he improved his skills in research, analysis, and market forecasting.

Realizing his passion for development work, he re-joined SEDPI and was immediately involved in research activities, particularly in organizational appraisals and assessment of cooperatives. His goal is to be able to contribute to nation-building through providing capacity building in the fields of microfinance, financial literacy, and social entrepreneurship.