Priya came to Manila in 2017 to set up Villgro Philippines and has since powered on building the incubator from the ground up. Her role as CEO at Villgro PH keeps her engaged in formulating the organization’s strategy and long – term direction. This entails mentoring and inspiring her team, building partnerships, designing incubation programs and ultimately carving out Villgro’s path in helping create successful Impact Enterprises in the Philippines.

A strong-willed collaborator, Priya believes in the power of simple ideas that can solve big challenges. She made Villgro her life’s mission and hopes one day to be an investor for impact-driven startups all over Asia. Priya’s ability to spot talent, focus to build coalitions, her penchant to stay positive even in the worst times, and passion to improve people’s lives, make her good at what she does at Villgro Philippines.

A voracious reader and avid traveller with a passion for learning, Priya is an energetic, people’s person who is either exploring the pristine beaches of Philippines or having deep political discussions with friends and new acquaintances alike.

Prabh’s role is to challenge entrepreneurs to think through their business model and develop focused strategies for growth. This includes working with them on tactical customer acquisition, creating detailed and robust financial models and implementing scalable operational processes to support growth.

Prabh is inspired by the energy and resilience of impact entrepreneurs. He is passionate about helping businesses articulate and execute their growth strategy. Be it in the early stages of achieving product-market fit or in a turnaround where rapid, decisive action with limited information is called for. Prabh has led diverse teams in multiple locations and is a firm believer in leveraging technology solutions to support rapid organizational growth.

Exploring new places and learning about the culture and history of his destinations is what keeps Prabh dreaming of time off work. He is also a Technologist (early-adopter) and spends time scouring for the next big thing. Prabh brings to the table clarity of thought and precise direction, especially to strategy games.

Kath currently dons an advisory role with Villgro Philippines. She is deeply committed to growing and nurturing the Impact ecosystem in the Philippines and continues to Mentor and Support ventures to grow their business and scale their impact.

Kath’s strength lies in her ability to build lasting relationships with individuals and partners. She is passionate about innovation and its power to transform communities and impact the base of the pyramid. Kath’s can-do attitude and knack for connecting people is what makes her great at supporting impact entrepreneurs to deliver more value to their customers and amplify their impact.

If she’s not reading on her Kindle or watching a new indie film, Kath is probably whipping up delicious things in the kitchen. Kath loves learning about what makes people tick and is usually out chatting up friends, old and new alike, over a good cup of coffee and thinking of new ways to create change in whatever way she can.

AC is the brains and the brawn behind our climate action initiatives at Villgro Philippines. She manages end-to-end incubation and acceleration programs for SUP Challenge (Plastic-Free Philippines) and Ways4Waste (in partnership with The Incubation Network). AC also serves as a portfolio manager and supports the climate space and the cohorts in the programs through linkages, mentorship, and tailored assistance.

AC is the young blood that fires up her programs with passion and dedication. She brings a rare maturity to her duties and aspires to be on the frontier of making an impact in addressing climate change and gender inequality. She strongly believes that she has what it takes to make a change, one small ripple at a time.

AC is an animal person. Her love for animals has led her to keep and adopt several birds, dogs, cats, rabbits, hedgehogs, geckos, and even ants! When she’s not at work, you can find her amongst her furry and not-so-furry friends. She claims to hate dolls and finds them creepy but…has a collection of around 50 Precious Moments figurines, go figure!

Amina is the Comms Manager at Villgro PH and basically the eyes, ears and mouthpiece of the organisation. With a penchant for crafting communications strategies, social media content creation, and a flair for words, Amina is our storyteller who pushes the boundaries of communications for Villgro Philippines. From spamming your inboxes with mailers and newsletters, to flooding timelines with stories and posts, if we have an opinion, an event, or a program, Amina makes sure everyone knows about it and is engaged with it.

A curious extrovert, Amina is an adventurer at heart who likes to explore and learn something new each time she takes up an assignment. A proud non-conformist, feminist, and humanist, she feels deeply about issues such as gender disparity and poverty. Words are her weapons of choice and stories are her forte. She loves a good edit challenge and hones her skills following and studying the latest trends on social media.

A professional binge-watcher of any new series on Netflix, Amina loves to meet people and go out with friends. If she’s not furiously typing out status updates and posting stories, then she is most likely catching up on world affairs on Twitter or exploring quaint bars and hole-in-the-wall eateries around the world.

Denise is responsible for the end-to-end program management and delivery of Villgro’s gender programs such as the WE Rise Accelerator. She handles community management of women entrepreneurs, gender lens investing-focused investors and funders, technical and sector experts in the network. Denise also manages Villgro’s relationships with grantors, funders, and program partners.

With her penchant to learn and being open to new experiences, Denise enjoys tackling work in different industries. Her advocacies include gender equality, good governance, and community health and she volunteers for NGOs Make-A-Wish Philippines and Ladies Wine & Design Manila. A budding entrepreneur herself, she launched two small fashion businesses during the pandemic.

Carbs are Denise’s best friend! She claims that she ‘eats (not bakes) bread’. Also, she is a budding mixologist who tries (and often fails at, but refuses to stop) making cocktails. Denise enjoys reading about fashion history and is a big advocate of secondhand, vintage clothing.

Luan is responsible for the end-to-end daily finance operations, people operations, legal support, and office management and administration at Villgro Philippines. She runs this joint!

A finance professional all her life, Luan has a penchant for keeping things in order. Some call it OCD, we call it lifesaving talent. A stickler for detail and a thorough person, Luan is the one who makes sure our accounts, operations, and general admin is smooth sailing.

Luan is a curious and adventurous lifelong learner who loves to explore new ideas and experiences. She is always seeking to challenge herself, whether it’s through studying languages, taking up random courses, or immersing herself in a good book. During her brain breaks, she is either gaming or spending quality time with her dog.

As a Gender and Inclusion Associate at Villgro Philippines Char works extensively with programs, events, and initiatives of the Gender team. Her drive and passion to level the playing field for women entrepreneurs and create a safe and inclusive space for all genders are reflected in her commitment to her role as an enabler for good.

Char always feels inspired to be involved in any way toward social impact but her number one advocacy is education. She believes that education is the pathway towards better decision-making as individuals and the community as a whole.

Char believes in balancing work and life by staying true to her passion which is food. A foodie at heart she often documents her outings on Instagram. She is also a singer part of the Philippine Vocal Ensemble and has participated in both local and international competitions.

Maroushka assists in end-to-end management and leading virtual events under several innovation acceleration programs. She is the force behind the incubation support to teams from the ReachHealth Innovation Accelerator. She also supports climate projects such as the Ways4Waste Post-Program Support and the SUP Challenge in partnership with The Incubation Network. Maroushka also leads our Fellows Program where she manages young guns and trains them to take on the challenges of working with an ever-evolving, dynamic organization such as Villgro Philippines.

Her diligence is legendary and so is her commitment to diving into the deep end of the ocean. In short, Maroushka enjoys a good challenge thrown at her and her easy breezy style of making things happen is an inspiration to us all. She is deeply passionate about her advocacies – Climate action, Education, and Healthcare and aspires to be a teacher and become a beacon of viral impact in more ways than one. She hopes to one day create a learning hub to share her passions and learn from a community of like-minded individuals.

She plays 8 instruments! But her favorites are the piano, violin, and most especially her bass guitar. Maroushka is a self-taught artist that dabbles in traditional and digital mediums but uses acrylic on canvas or occasional murals. She believes that ‘Learning is a gift and curiosity fuels the soul’ – so she is always up to learn about and from anything she encounters, be it from a book, a movie, random genres of music, or having the most amazing conversations with people.

As the Finance & Operations Associate Tracy is responsible for running the backend of programs and the organization smoothly. Our go-to person for dues and dont’s Tracy makes sure that we have an efficient and organized process.

As she takes charge of her life outside the academe, she aspires to leverage her skills, knowledge, and experiences in order to bridge the gap between enriching her career and living her life with a purpose.

Tracy is a scroller of Tik Tok and an extrovert who is a master organizer of meetups with friends involving multiple activities such as eating, coffee-ing, bowling, ice skating, or billiards. Racy claims that she has the energy to go out all day and socialize.

Sofia is the Senior Program Associate for Health at Villgro Philippines’ health vertical. Her vast experience lends itself to handling specialized programs such as the AI4Health Asia accelerator, a regional program for AI-powered health startups in Southeast Asia.

She is a strong advocate for peacebuilding: refugee rights, free speech, healthcare access, and grassroots sports. Sofia, who was an elite gymnast for 15 years and was previously on the Philippine National Team representing the country at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games and a Division 1 gymnast at UCLA, brings her sports discipline to her work and gets the job done with the grace and finesse of a superstar athlete.

She is an avid fan of slow-burn horror films, political books, solo travel, long hikes, worthwhile conversations, photography, and sports. Sofia used to be a photographer for a professional boxing gym during my time in Los Angeles and has photographed Olympic and professional boxers and covered amateur fights. When she’s not in office she is scouting locations for photography in the Philippines.

As the Executive Assistant to the Co-founder of Villgro Philippines, Melvin is essentially the go-to person for all things related to high-level management. His expert handling of complex timelines, expert skills at multitasking, and uncanny ability to adapt to an insanely fast-paced growth environment make him a valuable asset to all of us.

Melvin is an advocate for community mental health, bridging individual well-being and the social aspects that affect it such as economic security, social justice, accessibility of resources, and human rights. He brings to the table a deep understanding and great empathy for the marginalized and contributes to our efforts to build an equitable society for all.

Melvin is a spicy food enthusiast who braves buffalo wings and loves exploring movies and music. He used to write film reviews and post them on Twitter and some of them made it to his college publication SINAG where he served as a features writer, dissecting movies and their themes or featuring a piece of media that provides insight to a timely sociopolitical issue.

Nicco is deeply involved in Villgro’s incubation programs and is an integral part of the team that launched the regional AI4Health Asia accelerator in 2023. His ability to work across verticals and collaborative mindset makes him a valued asset to the team.

Nicco has participated in various student conferences, contests, symposia, and student organizations that allowed him to hone his personal and professional skills, particularly in project and organizational management. His educational background in the Humanities has allowed him to understand and appreciate the socio-historical and cultural implications of various international and local institutions in different countries.

Nicco is an alumni singer at the UA&P Chorale, the premier choral ensemble of the University of Asia and the Pacific established in 1995. Apart from singing in the Chorale he also assists in the creation of sound files needed to learn new pieces and hone the group’s singing skills.

As the Comms Associate at Villgro Philippines Martha is the creative force that adds fuel to all of Villgro’s communications efforts. From social media to developing content that conveys our impact, Martha is fiercely adept at making us look as good as we are.

Whether it’s developing visually impactful content, designing strategic campaigns, or drawing out compelling stories, Martha’s exceptional skill in creative communications adds a dynamic touch that resonates with audiences and elevates the impact of her projects.

When she’s taking a break, Martha can be found scrolling through amusing TikTok videos, delving into intricate movie analyses and critiques on YouTube, or engrossed in a captivating crime podcast for hours on end – a real digital native if you will.

As a Senior Program Associate, Loiz is proactively engaged in implementing Villgro Philippines’ programs under the climate vertical. She is fully equipped with all the fundamental tools and expertise in delivering incubation support to exceptional entrepreneurs that help scale their impact and lead them to success

Loiz is a rockstar at end-to-end project management and delivery of assigned programs but more importantly her vibrant personality shines the most when cultivating upbeat and advantageous connections with entrepreneurs, mentors, and partners.

Outside of work, Loiz maintains her passion for teaching, channeling her inner educator every weekend. She adeptly balances her professional and personal life, upholding her roles as a devoted daughter, caring sister, and steadfast friend to her loved ones.

As the Admin and Finance Associate at Villgro Philippines, finance-related paperwork will be Jelai’s domain. Jelai ensures that transactions are efficiently recorded and company files are mostly complete and in order.

Jelai strongly advocates for accessible quality education, minimizing plastic pollution and social entrepreneurship. Her passion enables her to thrive in her current role, expose herself to opportunities that will make her gain more experience, and hopefully develop her skill set in the process.

Jelai has always been a passionate learner. Her ideal rest day includes being able to read her favorite books, watch Netflix, play Mobile Legends, and read through self-improvement articles. She also runs several blogs wherein she talks about her realizations about life. She hopes to have more time to write about her thoughts and perspectives in the future.