Embassy of the Philippines to the Kingdom of the Netherlands
We are fortunate that Ambassador Jaime Victor Ledda is a staunch advocate for social entrepreneurship and strongly endorses LSE to the Filipino community. In fact, personnel of the embassy are highly encouraged to register and this is why we had Consul and Third Secretary Cynthia Pelayo joined the first batch of students last year, together with Ms. Joy Batac, also a staff of the Philippine embassy. Just months after assuming office last year, Ambassador Ledda was immediately involved with the program by joining us at the graduation of Batch LSE 21 -- the first ever graduates of LSE Netherlands. This year, he inspired the new batch of students in his Keynote Address at the launch of LSE 29 held last March 01, 2015 at the ISS, The Hague.
We are also thankful for the active engagement and genorisity of Minister and Consul General Charlotte Tang who was present at the launching of the LSE program last year at the Wereldhuis Den Haag. Consul Tang was also a member of the panel that evaluated the business plans of the student. She also joined us this year at the Opening Ceremonies for LSE 29.
This year, we have two staff members from the Philippine embassy joining the students.
International Institute of Social Science (ISS), Erasmus University
The ISS is the renowned international graduate school of policy-oriented critical social science in The Hague. Prof. Helen Hintjens has involved three members of the LSE Secretariat and alumni of LSE 21, Joy Escano, Jacob Apostol, and Bing Molabin in "Count Us In", a research project on the health issues and the right to health of undocumented migrants in the Netherlands. She recognized the value and relevance of the LSE program and agreed to be a partner. Thanks to Prof. Hintjens, we have the perfect venue for the LSE sessions: the conducive to critical learning classroom of the ISS.
Partners: LSE-NL 2015
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
IOM is the leading intergovernmental organization working in the area of migration and providing services and advice to government and migrants. IOM was a partner when we launched in 2013 and has again thrown their support behind us. LSE NL approached Mr. Hans van Rhee project officer of IOM Netherlands working directly with undocumented migrant communities in The Hague. Hans was also one of our business panelists for LSE21. We appreciate his enthusiasm and pride upon seeing the first batch of students last year.
LSE Netherlands is deeply grateful for the ardent support of its institutional partners who share the same vision of building empowered leaders and social entrepreneurs from the Filipino migrant community in the Netherlands.