2 Filipinos join Asia 21 fellowship
Two accomplished young Filipino leaders have been selected to join a global group committed to advancing the greater good through impactful leadership and collective action, one community at a time.
Kenneth Isaiah Abante, cofounder and president of WeSolve Foundation Inc., and Ariestelo Asilo, founder and CEO of Varacco Inc. and ThinnkFarm, are named part of Asia 21 Next Generation Fellows Class of 2025, joining 28 other cohorts.
The newest class, representing 27 different countries and regions, also includes: Jie Ding, director general of the Wuhu Qingye Community Development Promotion Center (China); Qazi Zaid, editor in chief of Free Press Kashmir (India); Ema Ryan Yamazaki, an Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker (Japan); Ainura Sagyn, CEO and Founder of Tazar (Kyrgyzstan); Safaath Ahmed Zahir, cofounder and president of Women & Democracy at Commonwealth Foundation (Maldives); Syeda Shehr Bano, assistant superintendent of Police, Punjab Police (Pakistan); Yinghui Tng, head of government affairs, Southeast Asia, platforms and devices at Google (Singapore); and Phillip An, cofounder and CEO of Skylarq AI (United States).
The new fellows, all under the age of 40, will join earlier cohorts at the Asia 21 Next Generation Fellows Summit that will take place in Manila on Dec. 5 to Dec. 7, focusing on the theme “The Journey to Courageous Leadership.”
Asia 21 is an initiative of Asia Society, a nonpartisan nonprofit institution founded in New York by American tycoon and philanthropist John Rockefeller in 1956.
Today, Asia Society is a global institution—with locations across Asia, the United States and Europe—that brings together leading thinkers on policy, arts, culture, business and education for lectures and discussions, analysis and reports, exhibitions, performances, networking and family events, among others.
Asia Society says this year’s gathering in Manila will serve as a catalyst for deeper connections and bold, cross-sector collaborations across borders.
Cross-border collaboration
For Abante and Asilo, being part of the Asia 21 initiative strengthens their commitment to empowering their respective communities through purposeful work.
“Our work can benefit from a stronger Asian regional network because we can learn lessons and working good practices from how our peers and like-minded colleagues organize around the fields we specialize in. We can also express our solidarity across movements and borders,” Abante says in a Viber message to the Inquirer.
Founded in 2020, Abante’s WeSolve Foundation is a youth-powered coalition incubator and collaboration accelerator for systems change in the Philippines. It collaborates with governments, advocates, civil society, nongovernmental organizations, communities and citizens to harness collective action for sustained impact.
Abante says Asia 21 fellows can support one another even if WeSolve Foundation is not directly involved in certain advocacies, as challenges across the region are interconnected.
For Asilo, being part of this initiative opens access to a wider regional network of change-makers, enabling them to learn, collaborate and amplify their work.
He adds it will boost the efforts of Varacco and ThinnkFarm in promoting “nutripreneurship,” which links sustainable coffee, nutrition and community development.
“It means scaling the business not only for profit but for purpose: empowering farmers, especially youth, women, PWDs (persons with disabilities) and indigenous communities, to embrace smart farming through our Smart FARM project,” Asilo tells the Inquirer in a Viber message.
Varacco is a food and beverage company that specializes in selling coffee. It also utilizes internet of things (IoT) and Nano-biofertilizers technology for the sustainable production of coffee varieties Liberica and Arabica.
On the other hand, ThinnkFarm establishes farm schools and farming programs using IoT and other modern technologies. The goal is to promote innovative, smart and resilient agriculture, as well as sustainable food systems.
PH hosts global summit
Abante says fellow attendees can learn how ordinary people can band together to push reforms, “even in issues that many believe are hopeless or impossible to solve, and even in repressed and dangerous political environments.”
“We have navigated and pushed back against authoritarian governments. We have supported our advocates through threats to their safety and person. We have responded to deadly typhoons and pandemics,” says Abante.
Asilo believes the upcoming summit is a chance to put the global spotlight on compelling stories about Philippine coffee and indigenous communities, while ensuring that growth benefits these communities and contributes to climate resilience and food security.
“As a Filipino, it also means bringing our stories—of resilience, community and hope—into the global conversation shaping the future of Asia,” says Asilo.
Asilo says Varacco plans to expand to 100 stores nationwide in the next five years, making quality, locally-sourced Philippine coffee more accessible. He also aims to integrate digital tools in their operations.
About 70 percent of the planned kiosks will be strategically located at transport hubs, malls, schools and hospitals. The rest will be set up as full coffee shops in urban centers such as Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao.
Abante says they are prepared to contribute to the Asia 21 Initiative by organizing cross-movement solidarity programs focused on the deepest and most intractable problems in the Philippines.
Through WeSolve Foundation, Abante says they look forward to hosting learning sessions in various countries that combat corruption and address crises in education and mobility.
Ching Jorge, center head and managing director of Asia Society Philippines, says Asilo and Abante have exhibited the qualities of a good leader who can create a lasting impact here and abroad, especially after their inclusion in the Asia 21 Next Generation.
“It takes passion, leadership and a clear commitment to making an impact to be a fellow; Ken and Ariestelo embody all of that,” Jorge says. “We are proud of their achievements and we’re excited to see the positive changes their work will bring both here at home and across the region.”
