The second iteration of La Conférence Bleue, a Sustainability-driven forum organized by the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Philippines (CCI France-Philippines), happened late September, at the Ascott BGC. As last year’s inaugural Conférence proved, it was an eye-opener to have several members of the Filipino-French business community, and from beyond; go up on stage and present their sustainable practices and initiatives, and pledge their commitment to these values, while enjoining others to start with their own.

It creates meaningful dialogue and potential collaboration around Sustainability, and that will always be a good thing. Best practices, hard lessons learned, and crafting better and more efficient ways to be effective, will always be on the agenda of the conférence – as diverse and impactful programs are shared and discussed. The wide range of speakers that are invited attest to this broad spectrum approach; so that members of the audience, representing different types of businesses and enterprises, can glean and cherry-pick which initiatives would work best for them.

Booths for sponsors and supporting partners provide more information, and valuable networking opportunities. It may be the Filipino-French business community leading the way, but I’ll always appreciate how inclusive the effort is, and how the presentations all pertain to the Philippine setting, with expertise and goals that apply locally.

For this second La Conférence Bleue, I was especially taken by the presentation of Jane Walker, a British national, who has been awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire, 2008). She is a co-founder of Upskills Foundation Inc., and has been living in Tondo since 2012 – her charity work here dates back to 2002, with the founding of the Purple Community Fund. Her talk was entitled Bridging the Gap: Empowering out-of-school youth through livelihood training and mentorship.

Nicknamed the “Angel of the Dump” by the international press, she has founded two schools situated in Tondo, and her MBE was ‘for services to disadvantaged children in the Philippines’. She described herself as someone who has had a lot of work experience, including being a chambermaid; and how a visit to Tondo in the 1990’s motivated her to be a charity worker, wanting to provide schooling, healthcare, and clean water, plus offering livelihood opportunities – one that is in place transforms rubbish into retail products.

Ms. Walker spoke of the chronic poverty she deals with on a daily basis; where some can recount five generations of poverty, and where only five percent of this community even live past the age of 60. Where the reality of this situation compels children to drop out of school, and help their parents. It’s about earning around ₱3,000 a month, and where it’s a meal to meal existence, not knowing where the next meal will come from, much less what happens the next day.

These children who should be students are her most vulnerable group, and it’s them she wants to assist, so they don’t have to drop out. She spoke of the amazing graduates that have come out of the schools she has established in Tondo, how proud they are to now be earning ₱30,000/month, and being a vital level of support to the family.

But life, and surviving in Tondo, remains a precarious situation. Ms. Walker related how the fires of the other week included her school building, resulting in ₱14 million worth of losses and damage. There have been over 4,500 people of her community displaced, and the road to recovery is a long and arduous one. And what struck me as she was giving her talk was how she’s still here, committed to our country and it’s people.

Another speaker, from a corporate foundation, spoke realistically about Corporate Social Responsibility vis-a-vis shared prosperity. He spoke of the often-times unrealistic expectations placed on the shoulder of CSR. How, quite frequently, it’s an outright hand-out or subsidy-driven; and when the profits of the company dip, it’s the CSR program that gets cut, or loses momentum.

The more ideal scenario would be CSV, or Corporate Shared Values, where the ‘doing good’ is integrated within the business model; as it directly impacts on the operational aspect of the company, and creates a relationship whether as a supplier, or as a sub-contractor. The speaker than shared several examples of how this could be achieved, and how it future-proofs the relationship to one that is not exclusively based on one party giving, and the other one just taking.

Me, I’m just happy I’ve attended the two editions of Conférence Bleue; and applaud the CCI France-Philippines for pushing this agenda of presenting Sustainability within realistic parameters, and measurable results. Sustainability is more than pie-in-the-sky ideals or “goals;” it’s what we work on and aspire for, precisely because the ones who need it the most, need the guidance and inspiration.