Friends of Hope, Inc.

HOPE targets the most vulnerable populations to create systemic change in three main service areas, specifically Education, Agriculture/Livelihood, and Environment.

Education - HOPE invests in education infrastructure to help turn the tide for millions of Filipino children that rely on public schools to secure their futures. We work with the Philippines' Department of Education and underserved communities across the Philippines to build bright and beautiful public school classrooms for young learners, no matter how remotely located they are. To date, HOPE has constructed 130 classrooms and counting since 2012.

Agriculture/Livelihood - HOPE supports some of the most marginalized members of the country – smallholder coconut farmers. We carry out interventions to enrich their livelihoods such as seedling distribution, technical support provision, and building linkages to markets and micro-entrepreneurship opportunities. To date, HOPE’s agriculture programs have enriched the livelihoods of nearly 30,000 farmers and their families through the replanting and distribution of close to 2 million trees.

Environment - HOPE implements the Aling Tindera (or women micro-entrepreneurs) program, a market-based solution against the plastic pollution crisis. We engage women micro-entrepreneurs and informal workers to manage collection points, where members of the community can sell their plastic waste. This mechanism provides incremental income to the women, encourages behavior change among households, and helps clean up the environment. Currently, there are over 140+ Aling Tindera sites all over the country, helping address plastic waste management issues in their communities.

Our efforts with our partners are increasingly visible in the country, positioning us as champions for responsible business and social justice. For this, we have received recognitions such as the Grand Prize for Developmental Social Enterprise awarded by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Best New Brand and Best CSR awarded by the Global Bottled Water Awards. We have also gained credibility as an institution for collective impact through our partnerships with organizations like USAID, GIZ, Vita Coco, Gcash, and Century Pacific Food Inc.