AT 22, Sultan Kudarat-born Ryan Gersava established social enterprise “Virtualahan” bereft of any social and financial capital. The amazing part was he came from humble beginnings, being born in a family of 12 with his parents not even finishing high school.
Gersava did not aspire to become a social entrepreneur and had never heard of the phrase until four months before he launched Virtualahan.
However, it experienced a big shift when social impact incubators and accelerators like Watson Institute, BPI Sinag, Globe Future Makers, and Social Impact Accelerator by PhilDev provided the mentoring support he needed.
“They helped by equipping us with skills to run a social enterprise, introducing us to relevant people to build social capital, and solidifying our sustainability model,” Gervasa told the BusinessMirror in a recent e-mail interview.
Virtualahan is a tech social enterprise that equips people with
disabilities (PWDs) and other disadvantaged groups with the skills and mindset
to become successful employees and
entrepreneurs using an impact formula that combines life-coaching, community
building, with digital skills training. It is breaking down employment barriers
for people who are socially excluded in the workplace and working toward the
future of work where no one is left behind.
So far, Virtualahan has over 400 graduates coming from more than 60 cities and provinces all over the country. His efforts were rewarded when it was awarded as one of the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) and Google Business Stories Award in 2017.
“We believe in the change-making potential of the Filipino youth. To support leadership by young people, we have worked directly with almost 500,000 young people around the world through our Youth Years program and built vital partnerships with aligned and impactful stakeholders to ensure that young people learn to lead the young and to recognize their power to be change makers,” Jayme Mora, country director of Ashoka Philippines said in a news statement.
Ashoka is the oldest and largest network of social entrepreneurs in the world. Furthermore, Gersava has also started a new venture called Activating Rural Changemakers that serves as the launch pad for young people from rural communities by providing them with change making experience and knowledge on how to start their social enterprises.
Milestones
The Davao-based social enterprise achieved a milestone when it was cited as Global Champion under the Young Innovators category at the recently concluded World Summit Awards (WSA) held at the Erste Campus in Vienna, Austria from March 8 to 11, 2020.
Virtualahan was hailed the best among 407 solutions from 91 countries and earning a globally recognized quality seal for digital innovation. Among the top 5 global finalists were Almeta from the Syrian Arab Republic, Forest and Climate from Serbia, Shuttle from Bangladesh, and Liberate: My OCD Fighter from India.
Moreover, Virtualahan is the first Filipino company to win as a global champion at World Summit Awards putting Philippines in the spotlight. Among the previous winners who were on the WSA Top 40 were Arko (2014) under the Inclusion & Empowerment category, Rappler (2015)—Media & News, and Universal Structural Health Evaluation and Recording (USHER) System (2018)—Smart Settlements and Urbanization.
WSA Young Innovators is a special recognition for young social entrepreneurs under 26 years of age who demonstrate how young people from all over the world use of information and communications technology and their entrepreneurial creativity to support the achievement of the UN’s Social Development Goals (SDG).
“The worldwide
network of WSA and the Global Champions of 2020 show that action, not fear,
leads to avoiding suffering and alleviating need. This results in sustainably
positive transformations in our society and a significant advancement toward
the UN SDGs,” WSA Chairman Peter A. Bruck stated in a news statement release.
“It is a huge honor and great validation of our impact formula to be recognized and join the WSA Community as a Global Champion. This is for our community and to everyone who continues to believe and contribute to our mission. I hope that this will also inspire young Filipinos to take an active role in solving social issues in our country and share their impact to the world.” Gersava, the founder and president of Virtualahan said.
Inclusive employment and the future of work
Virtualahan was also commended at the World Summit Awards for its noble move of working with people who are socially excluded in the workplace like PWDs, recovering drug addicts, formerly incarcerated, solo parents, and other disadvantaged groups. It ensures that the most excluded populations of society are given equal opportunities for high-level work in the new digital economy using an impact formula that integrates well-being sessions and community-building with digital job skills training.
“It’s only fitting that Virtualahan has become the first organization from the Philippines to be recognized as a Global Champion at the World Summit Awards. Virtualahan has always been on the forefront of promoting inclusive employment, which will be needed more than ever as the world transitions into new ways of working in 2020 and beyond,” said Ezra Ferraz, managing partner at Ambidextr, one of the employment partners of Virtualahan.
“To spread our model via social franchising so we can impact more people and help build the future of work that is truly inclusive and leaves no one is left behind,” Gervasa said.
The WSA was founded in 2003 by Austria as part of the UN World Summit on Information Society as a global initiative to award local digital content with high social value and presents it worldwide.
