Strategy & leadership event to raise funds for feeding Philippine children

Brian To

A world-renowned strategy and leadership expert is joining forces with business and marketing specialists in the Asia-Pacific region to host a personal and professional development seminar next week at Banyan Tree, with all proceeds going towards feeding malnourished children in the Philippines.

Dr Brian To, who is an academic associate at more than 10 higher education institutions worldwide and regularly advises government and military leaders, is back in Macau as a co-organizer of the event.

Titled “Strategy and Leadership: For personal and business success,” the intimate program is designed to help individuals, managers, entrepreneurs and career professionals develop their strategic thinking skills, through lectures, case studies and interactive discussions.

Speaking to the Times last week, To stressed that all proceeds from the event will go to the Simply Share Foundation, which is devoted to fighting hunger and malnutrition in the Philippines.

He said that after visiting the Philippines on volunteer trips to feed impoverished children, the academic decided to take action himself.

Previously, To has held seminars and workshops to raise money for the foundation, his charity of choice. Now, he wants to go one step further and is reaching out to interested parties in Macau to turn his latest project into a reality.

“These kids need help. When you look at them, they’re so skinny. […] It’s heartbreaking,” he told the Times. “When you put it in perspective, how much can we eat? How many t-shirts do we need? How much of everything? If we just share a little bit… we can make a difference.”

The foundation is currently feeding around 200 children per day but the plan is to get this number closer to 2,000. To do this, they are developing a food truck system that will work like food banks in other countries.

To says he wants three food trucks, which will cost around USD45,000 (about MOP360,000) per unit. They will be operated on a volunteer basis by students, who will deliver at least one meal per day to the malnourished children and then serve paying customers at night in order to raise money for more of the children’s food.

The student-volunteers will hail from the University of San Carlos (USC) in Cebu City under an agreement brokered by To, whereby every culinary graduate must complete an internship on the food trucks.
“We don’t want to just raise money and give it to [well-known charities], because their administrative costs are so high. For most of them [large charities], 60–70 percent of the money raised goes to administrative costs and a CEO’s paycheck,” he said. “Our money goes directly to feeding those kids. “

The two-day strategy program will be held on June 14 and 15 at Banyan Tree at Galaxy Macau.

To will be joined by Dr Peter Treadway, who holds a distinguished 35-year career on Wall Street, having won several awards and having been ranked an “all-star analyst” by Institutional Investor magazine 11 times.

Also present at the event will be Professor John Leung, the director of the executive MBA program at City University of Hong Kong and described by To as a “marketing genius”, as well as Professor Davis Fong of the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming at the University of Macau, and many other notable guests.