“We all say we love collaboration—but we have to actually do it.”
—Priya Thachadi, Villgro Philippines
The 2025 National Social Enterprise Conference’s breakout session on Financing and Resource Mobilization convened some of the country’s most insightful voices in the impact ecosystem for an honest and energized exchange of ideas. With social finance reformers Vince Rapisura of SEDPI, Cauchie Garcia of Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF), and Priya Thachadi of Villgro Philippines at the helm, the panel delved into the gaps, gender dynamics, and risk dilemmas in social enterprise financing—culminating in a call to build a new community of practice to catalyze real, systemic change.
A Shared Challenge: The System Isn’t Working—Especially for Women
Kicking off the discussion, Dr. Rosalinda Odroneo from the University of the Philippines posed a pressing question: Where is the gender lens in social enterprise financing? While women dominate the microenterprise space, many still struggle to access formal credit—held back by collateral
requirements, informal care work burdens, and an investor ecosystem that remains indifferent to their needs.
Vince Rapisura, who coined the term “nano-financing,” pointed to the systemic flaws in microfinance. “It has feminized debt,” he argued. “Microfinance targets women, then keeps them in debt. We do it differently—we teach saving, budgeting, and engage husbands in financial decisions so the burden isn’t just on women.”
For Priya Thachadi, gender inequity is not just anecdotal—it’s data-backed. She cited findings from her organization’s gender finance report and insights from the Nüshu Network, a platform supporting over a thousand women entrepreneurs across Asia. “Banks approach us with ‘women-friendly’ loan products, but nothing about their requirements actually changes,” she said. “They still ask for three times the loan in collateral. Not one woman in our network has successfully accessed these so-called products.”
Cauchie Garcia shared that PEF recognizes the critical role of women in enterprise leadership and ensures their inclusion in project development and governance, though the foundation’s approach centers on household and community-level financing.
De-Risking, Co-Investing, and a Cultural Shift in Capital
A compelling question from the floor—why don’t we just take more risks and fail faster?—sparked deeper reflection on the inherent conservatism in Philippine impact investing.
Garcia noted that PEF is uniquely positioned to absorb risk due to its endowment fund. But even with that cushion, she emphasized the value of government partnerships, where development agencies could play a bigger role in co-financing high-risk, high-impact ventures.
Rapisura, on the other hand, revealed a strategic pivot: instead of pursuing large institutional investors who “won’t even let you in the room,” he turned to micro-investors and overseas Filipino workers. “They know our context. It’s easier to get them on board because these are lived realities for them,” he said.
Thachadi admitted that building a risk-tolerant co-investment network has been uphill. “It took me three years and over a hundred rejections to raise our first half-million-dollar blended finance fund. But now we’ve made it work—with 12 active investors.” Her key insight: collective investment cushions failure, spreads learning, and builds trust over time.
A Call for a Community of Practice
As the session drew to a close, moderator Ron Chua synthesized the discussion into a powerful takeaway: bridging the financing gap requires joint action. He proposed forming a Community of Practice (CoP) on social enterprise financing—an open group where stakeholders can regularly meet, share tools, reflect on failures, and co-create solutions.
Nearly all attendees raised their hands in support of the idea, with several volunteers signing up to launch the group’s first informal gathering.
“We keep trying to fix the entrepreneurs—but it’s the financing system that hasn’t moved,” Thachadi asserted. “If we want to see results, we need capital that’s flexible, relational, and ready to take the first step.”
Rapisura echoed this, adding, “We don’t just want to prevent the poor from getting poorer—we want to lift them out of poverty. That requires redesigning how we fund impact.”
Looking Ahead
The session ended not just with applause, but with commitment. The proposed CoP will serve as a platform to push forward ideas like:
- Mapping capital by enterprise stage and size
- Advocating gender-equitable financial products
- Expanding blended finance models
- Sharing learnings from both failures and successes
As the social enterprise sector grows, so must the tools and trust systems that support it. This panel didn’t just spotlight the financing crisis—it charted a path forward.
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