An Economics graduate (Cum Laude) from Ateneo de Naga University and has a degree in M.A. Economics from UP Diliman. She rose from the ranks; one of the pioneers of Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) since it was created in 1986.

She started as staff researcher and was appointed Executive Director of ACPC in 2016. She was briefly seconded at the Senate of the Philippines as Executive Director of the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries (COCAFM) from 2010-2013.

She has more than 30 years of experience in rural development work particularly on rural finance for small farmers and fisherfolk focusing on policy research and program development. She has written several research papers and has served as resource person in local as well as international conferences. She was recently appointed as one of the newest members of the Consultative Committee of the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The CFC is an autonomous intergovernmental financial institution established within the framework of the United Nations. She is very passionate about her work and cares deeply for her staff. Finally, she is a proud mother of a young doctor and happy wife to her hubby for the past 32 years.

Mr. Ralph Mariano is currently acting as the OIC-Division Chief of the Rural Institutions and Support Services Division under the Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment Staff of the National Economic and Development Authority.

Mr. Mariano’s division is responsible for providing technical support in coordinating the formulation of national plans, policies and projects related to support services to agriculture and fisheries subsector and agrarian reform, consistent with national and sectoral development goals, objective and strategies. Likewise, evaluating and conducting studies on issues affecting implementation of plans, policies and projects related to the aforementioned sectors falls within the division’s purview. His team is also responsible in the review and appraisal of proposed programs and projects for agrarian, agriculture and fisheries sectors to ensure alignment with the national and sectoral development plans and policies.

Marie Lisa M. Dacanay, PhD is the founding President of the Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia (ISEA). She is a mentor of social entrepreneurs, a pioneer in research and education on social entrepreneurship in Asia and an advocate for developing collaborative partnerships between social enterprises, businesses and governments to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. She was recognized by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and World Economic Forum as Outstanding Social Innovation Thought Leader of the Year 2019. Among the pioneering initiatives she has led was a multi-country research that resulted to a set of Benchmarks for Transformational Partnerships and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Agricultural Value Chains (AVCs). These benchmarks are inspiring a platform for building back better involving social enterprises, agribusinesses and governments in ASEAN and beyond as they confront the devastating impacts of the COVID19 pandemic on agricultural supply chains.

Dr. Dacanay has a degree in B.S. in Statistics (1984) from the University of the Philippines, a Master in Development Management (With Distinction) from the Asian Institute of Management (1996) and a PhD from the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark (2012).

Henry is an IT professional with more than 25 years of experience in systems development and technology outsourcing. He recently retired as a Managing Director at Accenture Philippines. For Henry, farming is a passion and second career. He established All Seasons Nature Farms in 2011 and has consistently grown revenues by at least 35% year-on-year since 2015.

In January 2017, Henry put up Verdant Seasons Farm Management Technologies Corporation to offer professional services in the agriculture sector. A year later, Henry decided to draft a digital roadmap for small and medium agri-enterprises that eventually led to Agro-DigitalPH, a full-cycle value-chain solution for virtually aggregating small landholder cooperatives and associations.
Henry holds both BS and MS degrees in Computer Science from De La Salle University. He also holds a certificate on Organic Agriculture Production.