Financing from the Ground Up: Peace and Equity Foundation’s Strategic Approach to Social Enterprise Development

Insights from Cauchie Garcia, Deputy Executive Director, Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF)

At the 2025 National Social Enterprise Conference (NSEC), Cauchie Garcia of the Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) delivered a compelling presentation on the realities and lessons in financing social enterprises (SEs), especially those working with rural and marginalized communities.

Garcia began by outlining PEF’s evolution—from its 2001 founding as a civil society initiative managing an endowment fund, to its strategic shift into social enterprise development. Recognizing that sustainable livelihoods drive poverty reduction, PEF now focuses on empowering farming and fishing households through capacity building and strategic investment.

“We aspire to drive positive change in poor Filipino households by investing in social enterprises that provide viable livelihoods and better access to services,” Garcia shared.

PEF’s support framework is built around three pillars:

1. Enterprise Development – Building and scaling SE value chains through financing and replication of successful models.
2. Institution Building – Strengthening governance, financial management, and resilience of SEs and people’s organizations (POs).
3. Strategic Partnerships – Collaborating with government agencies, funders, and local stakeholders to amplify collective impact.

To date, PEF has disbursed ₱2.6 billion in support to SEs and POs, benefiting over 36,000 households across 16 regions. A large share of investments targets farmers and fisherfolk, who continue to be among the most vulnerable in the country.

One of PEF’s key strategies is acting as an “unang tayak”—the first institutional investor—offering high-risk capital to social enterprises in their formative stages. Over time, PEF helps transition these SEs toward accessing mainstream financing from banks, government, and private investors.

A prime example is GLO-Corp, which began as a marketing arm for organic farmers and now supports over 11,000 farmers through inclusive value chain engagement and fair profit-sharing. With PEF’s early-stage funding and mentorship, GLO-Corp scaled operations to become investment-ready and market-competitive.

Garcia also stressed the importance of financing across the entire value chain—from production to processing and marketing. She cited a sugarcane project in Negros where initial funding focused only on production, leaving key gaps in value creation unresolved. This experience highlighted the need for holistic value chain interventions.

Looking ahead, PEF plans to raise ₱1.4 billion by 2030 through 58 local and national partnerships, leveraging government resources for scale. This includes helping POs transition into cooperatives to access loans and grants, as shown by the transformation of Santa Rita Co-op, which received multimillion-peso support under the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP).

Garcia ended her presentation with two key insights:

• On the demand side, SEs must strengthen leadership, financial management, and collaboration to increase resilience and impact.
• On the supply side, investors must go beyond funding. Active, engaged investors are crucial in helping SEs scale, manage risk, and grow sustainably.

“It takes more time and resources for social enterprises to survive and create impact. But with the right support, we can build resilient, income-generating ventures that uplift our communities,” Garcia concluded.

Through its strategic investments and grounded approach, PEF continues to play a vital role in transforming the Philippine social enterprise landscape—one partnership at a time.