SEDPI Development Finance, Inc. (SDFI), the financing arm of SEDPI Group of Social Enterprises, received special recognition from the First Development Social Enterprise Awards (DSEA) held on March 4, 2015 at the Kalayaan Hall, Club Filipino in the City of San Juan. DSEA aims to recognize organizations that are committed to a social objective and are multipliers of social progress through their enterprises.
PricewaterhousCoopers (PwC) Philippines or Isla Lipana & Co. (ILC) and Benita and Catalino Yap Foundation, Inc. (BCYF) team up to support social enterprises through the DSEA. PwC/ILC and BYCF seek to recognize organizations with a culture centered on human value, and that exists to create societal impact alongside an ethical and viable business model. These social enterprises include organizations that have not only demonstrated consistent success, but have shown a commitment to scale up.
There were 27 nominated organizations for the awards. Two SEDPI partners were also nominated for the awards – Solar Solutions, Inc. (SSI) and Good Food Community, Inc. (GFC). GFC was hailed as one of the five finalists for the award. SEDPI actively participated in the incubation of SSI and GFC.
Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV led the panel of judges for the selection of the awardees. He also delivered the keynote address during the awards night.
PwC is a multinational professional services network. It is the world’s second largest professional services network, as measured by 2014 revenues, and is one of the big four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst and Young and KPMG. ILC is the local partner of PwC in the Philippines.