Gokongwei Brothers Foundation

Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF) was established in 1992 with the goal of having a lasting impact on education in the Philippines. Guided by its mission of building the future through education, GBF works toward advancing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), believing this is the driving force for sustainable national development.

Key 2019 Milestones

Institutional Support

GBF inaugurated two facilities envisioned to empower the workforce for future and existing STEM-enabled industries: the De La Salle University John Gokongwei, Jr. Innovation Center (DLSU JGIC) and the new GBF Technical Training Center (TTC).

Unveiled in January at the DLSU Laguna Campus, JGIC aims to be a major hub of multimedia gaming revolution and interactive entertainment in the ASEAN region. Presently hosting DLSU’s bachelor’s degree programs focusing on game development and game art and design, JGIC is envisioned to hone the leaders of industries of the future.
In September, GBF TTC relocated to a new 100-million-peso facility in Calamba City, Laguna. The move to Laguna from its 1999 founding site in Litton Mills, Pasig City gives GBF TTC the center space to expand further in the future without being far away from Metro Manila. GBF TTC continues to be home of Iskolar ni Juan, the Foundation’s flagship technical- vocational scholarship for high school graduates who aspire to become maintenance technicians and productions operators at Universal Robina Corporation. It also serves as venue for continuous technical training of JG Summit employees.

STEM Advocacy

In May, GBF recognized the pioneer recipients of the GBF Young Scientist Award (YSA). Established to promote excellence in STEM among the youth, GBF YSA is given to high school and college students who demonstrate global competence through their achievement in highly-competitive and reputable STEM competitions.

The first batch of GBF YSA recipients are the 12 Philippine student- delegates to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2019, the world’s largest pre-college science research competition. The students, all from public high schools, earlier earned top recognition in the Department of Education’s National Science and Technology Fair (NSTF) 2019. As NSTF’s sponsor, GBF provided promotional support to DepEd and funded the Philippine delegation’s trip to Phoenix, Arizona for ISEF 2019. To encourage them to pursue STEM in higher education, the GBF YSA recipients were granted college scholarships.

Student Access

As of year-end 2019, GBF has supported 814 scholars through graduation. Of which, 28% graduated in 2019. Among GBF’s 475 enrolled scholars, more than half are pursuing STEM courses in college. GBF offered ten scholarship programs in 2019.

The GBF NextGen Scholarship for Excellence provides financial support to outstanding children and siblings of JG Summit Holdings, Inc., Subsidiaries and Affiliates employees.

Year Launched: 2010 | Graduates: 115| Enrolled Scholars: 98

In partnership with URC Branded Consumer Foods Group (URC-BCFG), GBF grants the fully-subsidized one-year Iskolar ni Juan Technical-Vocational Scholarship to high school graduates interested in industrial machine operation. Boarded at the GBF TTC, scholars undergo GBF’s signature TESDA- registered courses followed by on-the-job training and employment at URC-BCFG.

Year Launched: 2014 | Graduates: 332 | Enrolled Scholars: 75

The GBF STEM Scholarship for Excellence supports outstanding STEM undergraduate students with strong leadership potential and enrolled in top- ranked Philippine universities. Only students at the top 30% of the course batch qualify for this program. To help ensure quality on-the-job training and employment for scholars, GBF works with partner JG Summit Business Units such as JG Summit Petrochemicals Group, South Star Drug, Robinsons Land Corporation, URC Agro-Industrial Group, URC Flour and Pasta Division, URC Sugar and Renewables Group, Robinsons Bank, and Cebu Pacific.

Year Launched: 2011 | Graduates: 201 | Enrolled Scholars: 196

As part of GBF’s endowment to DLSU, the DLSU Gokongwei College of Engineering Grant is awarded to outstanding students taking any undergraduate course offered by DLSU GCOE. Scholars are supported from first year to graduation.

Year Launched: 2012 | Graduates: 58 | Enrolled Scholars: 48

Similarly, the Ateneo John L. Gokongwei Scholarship is granted to academically excellent but financially needy students of the Ateneo John Gokongwei School of Management. Scholars are supported from first year to graduation.

Year Launched: 2006 | Graduates: 24 | Enrolled Scholars: 8

Meanwhile, GBF awards the St. Stephen’s High School Scholarship to exemplary but indigent high school students at the Chinese school. Scholars are supported from Grades 7 to 12.

Year Launched: 2012 | Graduates: 10 | Enrolled Scholars: 9

GBF also grants the merit-based and need-based GBF-Go Family Association College Scholarship. It is offered to members of the Go family pursuing any bachelor’s degree and demonstrating leadership potential.

Year Launched: 2019 | Enrolled Scholars: 6

To encourage youth with exceptional aptitude in STEM to pursue further studies in the field, GBF grants the GBF Young Scientist Award STEM Scholarship for Excellence to recipients of the recognition.

Year Launched: 2019 | Enrolled Scholars: 5

Teacher Development

GBF sponsors outstanding students taking bachelor’s degree in Education specializing in science or mathematics through the Philippine Business for Education’s (PBEd) 1000 Teachers Program. With the GBF-PBEd TeachSTEM College Scholarship, GBF partakes in ensuring a pool of quality Filipino science and mathematics teachers.

Year Established: 2018 | Enrolled Scholars: 15
Further, GBF also supports agents of change in K to 12 science and mathematics education through the GBF TeachSTEM Graduate Scholarship. Supporting K to 12 science and mathematics public school teachers pursuing master’s degree in their respective disciplines, the scholars are expected to champion a STEM-oriented culture in basic education. GBF’s academic partners for this program are top teacher education institutions: University of the Philippines, Philippine Normal University, and West Visayas State University.
Year Established: 2019 | Enrolled Scholars: 14

Outlook for 2020 and Beyond

The new decade brings a lot of changes, but what remains true for GBF is its mission and vision to give every Filipino youth the access to education that has the power to improve not just their lives, but their family’s as well. Aside from this, all initiatives are centered on improving the quality of STEM education in the country—a vital element that leads to a developing country’s industrialization. These serve as the guiding light that steers the foundation to the right direction when creating its newest programs for 2020 and the years to come.

Expansion of Scholarship

Scholarships is expected to increase by 60% enrolled scholars across the various scholarships by end 2020 with an emphasis on improving scholars’ journey from selection to alumni engagement. Some highlights will be the offering of more holistic developmental programs to our scholars to ensure future work readiness.

GBF’s Iskolar ni Juan Tech-Voc Scholarship Program will be adding an IT-Digital course to its roster of scholarships this year. This newest offering was developed in partnership with iTech Global Solutions, Inc. and Microsoft. In today’s industries where the integration of the latest technologies becomes necessary, the demand for digitally-trained employees increases; this is the gap that the program wants to bridge. INJ-IT-Digital will train scholars on installation, configuration, and maintenance of computer parts, software and operating systems.

Teachers Development Program

In early 2019, GBF partnered with the University of the Philippines National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development (UP NISMED) to help improve its KaSaMa Teachers Community website—an online community for Filipino K to 12 Science and Math educators. After months of development under the expertise of Summit Media, a fresher and better KaSaMa website was introduced in January 2020. This platform was designed to become a one-stop hub for communication, collaboration, learning and development; a tool for teachers to be the best of themselves, not only for their students, but the entire teaching community as well.

STEM Advocacy

GBF and JG Summit also partnered with the business-technology platform, SAP, for the GBF-SAP University Alliance Program. Its primary goal is to prepare young professionals for jobs that require the tech know-how of modern computer tools and software like SAP. This specialized curriculum will be integrated in various courses in Accountancy, Business Administration, and Computer Science being offered among partner schools and universities such as De La Salle University – Dasmarinas and University of San Carlos.

Institutional Support

This year also marks the first-ever collaboration between GBF,
the Ateneo de Manila John Gokongwei School of Management, and NTUitive Pte Ltd, the Innovation and Enterprise company of Nanyang Technological University of Singapore for E-nnovate—
an innovation and entrepreneurship workshop. This two-week accelerated course is for Filipino teachers and students who
want to learn how to transform innovative ideas to sustainable enterprises. The workshop will help participants to acquire the vital skills and learn methodologies needed from ideation to product development of the enterprise they want to put up.

GBF is also working on the newest digital platform that aims to increase students’ awareness on the potential STEM career opportunities that they can pursue in the future. The website will feature reliable and relevant content that will educate students about the various industries where they can thrive as next- generation engineers, mathematicians, scientists, or technicians. The website will serve as a guide to help students understand and decide which career path is right for them based on skills assessment and psychometrics that can be done in the platform.
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