Agnes De JesusThe Lopez Group HR Council held its first General Membership Meeting (GMM) for 2015 last March 19, 2015 at the EDC offices in One Corporate Plaza, Pasig City. About 55 employees representing various Lopez companies attended the event.

The HR Council’s GMMs are recognized by Lopez employees as learning sessions where relevant knowledge and best practices are shared and imparted to attendees.  Lopez Inc. HR Head Pinky Diokno opened the GMM by welcoming the participants and sharing business updates about the Lopez Group from the HR Council.

For this quarter’s GMM, the key topic that was tackled with the help of invited resource speakers was the link of HR and Corporate Sustainability.

Dimpy JazminesCorporate sustainability is a responsible business approach that creates long-term consumer and employee value through “green” strategies.  Aimed towards the natural environment, it also takes into consideration how a business operates in the social, cultural, and economic environment.

First Philippine Holdings Chief Sustainability Officer Agnes de Jesus shared to the participants an in-depth appreciation of the GMM’s main topic with her talk on “Corporate Sustainability 101”.

Guest speaker Bing Decena, Operations Manager of social enterprise Custom Made Crafts Center, shared her organization’s experience on creating an “Enterprise Development Program” when they empowered indigenous communities to create marketable woven products.

Meanwhile in “Building Sustainable Communities”, young guest speaker Paola Savillo, Product Development Head and co-founder of Habi Footwear, talked about her entrepreneurial journey of a shoe-making business that started from a school project.  Paola and a few friends sought underprivileged communities and made them sustainable partners in producing a thriving business of making signature shoes made from recycled cloth.

Bernard Pating

Emily Verde

Paola Savillo

Pinky Diokno