The Gokongwei family, listed by Forbes Magazine as one of the country’s wealthiest, officially launched the Gokongwei Group master brand that will embrace all the diverse businesses in their portfolio which includes some of the Philippines’ top corporations.
“Our name carries with it the legacy of our Founder Mr. John and his siblings – a legacy of integrity and reliability, and one which my siblings, cousins and I in the third generation have been working very hard to live up to,” said Lance Gokongwei, who heads the Gokongwei Group.
He added that, “It is our fervent hope that this legacy will live on to succeeding generations of the Gokongwei family, so that we can continue to make lives better and ... yes to make our forefathers proud.”
Founded in 1957 by patriarch John Gokongwei Jr., the 65 year-old Gokongwei Group launched its master brand during its celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF) on Wednesday, Aug. 25.
In 1992, industrialist John and his brothers—Henry, Johnson, and James—established the GBF, with the goal of making a lasting impact on our nation’s education. Three decades later, the foundation is one of the largest philanthropic educational organizations in the country.
“Today, we come together to launch the Gokongwei Group’s Master Brand as well as to celebrate 30 years of the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation, and to remember how each of these two parts—our business and our philanthropy—complement each other to achieve our group’s purpose—which is to create great products and services that serve our customers as well as our nation,” said Summit Media President and GBF General Manager Lisa Gokongwei Cheng.
She added that, "In the Gokongwei Group, we are the stewards of the resources entrusted to us—our businesses and our people. We manage them well and we make sure that they are cared for. In the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation, we are the stewards of our youth, helping them receive quality education and giving them a chance to succeed in life."
Leading the companies in the Gokongwei Group are JG Summit Holdings, Inc., one of the largest and most diversified Filipino conglomerates, with subsidiaries including Universal Robina Corporation, Cebu Pacific, Robinsons Land Corporation, Robinsons Bank, and JG Summit Olefins.
Also under the Gokongwei Group umbrella are Robinsons Retail Holdings, Summit Media, the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation, and other privately held companies of the family.
The master brand embodies the Gokongwei Group’s commitment to carry on its Founder’s legacy of disruptive business innovations and building businesses that improve lives and provide better choices. It also highlights the scale, culture and integration of the Gokongwei Group of companies.
Meanwhile, the GBF has always believed in the role of good education in building a strong Philippine economy. For the past three decades, the foundation has equipped learners with the tools they need to grow and develop as well-rounded members of the community.
It has also provided the content and technology teachers and other stakeholders need to develop their skills as educators.
GBF has been focusing on elevating educators' professional development to meet current and future learning needs through a number of projects.
This includes the TeachSTEM Scholarship program, a partnership with the University of the Philippines National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development (UP NISMED) for the KaSaMa Teachers Community; and Project Future, an educators’ development program developed in partnership with IDEO, a global design-thinking consultancy firm.
Programs that support STEM and digitally-enabled learning have also been developed. Marking the foundation's 30th anniversary is the Juan Community for Education, with Juan Brigada Eskwela and Juan Kapatid Tutorial under the said program.
This year alone, the GBF projects to have 913 scholars, learners and educators alike, from various programs, such as Iskolar ni Juan, GBF Nex Gen Scholarship for Excellence, GBF Gokongwei Group STEM Scholarship for Excellence, and STEM Agri Scholarship for Excellence. The foundation has 1,841 lifetime scholars to date.
"I hope that our partnerships’ outputs, outcomes, and impacts cultivated more enthusiasm so that we can reach our ambition of fast-tracking the learning journey of 1 million learners and 10,000 educators by 2025," said GBF Executive Director Grace Colet.