The partnership between ZSDM School Head, Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go and his Program Director, Coen Damen is based on the shared commitment to ensure that ZSDM programs and activities fully exemplify our new tagline of Lead. Inspire. Transform.

This shared goal extends beyond stewardship of the MDM cohorts and various development executive programs. Hence the concerted effort to reinforce ZSDM’s thought leadership with its Dev@Work lecture series.

The thought leaders invited to speak at the Dev@Work sessions are well-respected for their accomplishments in the various sectors of government service, NGOs, and business. The Dev@Work audience is just as diverse at the speakers, making a Dev@Work lecture a great opportunity to network.

Thus far, the Dev@Work series has featured Ustadz Esmael Ebrahim, Executive Director of the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy, who discussed the Halal industry’s impact on the economy, and the issue of Islamic finance playing an important role in the economies of the world. This was followed by Dr. Jeremy Lim’s talk on the ASEAN Health Systems landscape, the first in a series of talks on Universal Health Care. Dr. Lim, who is affiliated with the Duke-NUS Medical School at the National University of Singapore, focused on the importance of health equity and the need for new ways of thinking to put equity into the design of health policies. While examples of policy innovations that were successfully translated through sound implementation were provided, he likewise highlighted the possible barriers that might prevent successful implementation and delivery.

ZSDM also invited Prof. Moner Bajunaid, Secretary General of the National Ulama Conference of the Philippines (NUCP), to focus on the similarities and contrasts in management practices across cultures and belief systems. Cultural diversity in business organizations can pose a major challenge in attempting to deal with management and business ethics from a religious perspective. Scaled down to the businesses in farmers’ markets and shopping stalls for instance, the practical reality differs from theoretical and written standards. Why is the common practice at variance with the accepted written standard? The obvious answer is that in any faith, there is always a gap between what is written and how it is practiced, with the blending/blurring of cultures and traditions interwoven in between.

For her talk, AIM Board Trustee and former Ayala Foundation President, Ms. Vicky Garchitorena-Arpon addressed the topic of adopting strategic marketing processes for fundraising. She demonstrated how business and society integration can be done in a cost-efficient manner, sharing her experiences and insights from her long career in Development as well Resource Mobilization management. Ms. Garchitorena-Arpon gave the participants a long list of tips, strategies, and points of attention in fundraising.

Because corruption, its costs, and consequences are almost always top of mind in development work, ZSDM invited Dr. Emil P. Bolongaita to speak on the issue. Dr. Bolongaita is a Distinguished Service Professor of Public Policy & Management at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and is currently the Executive Director of the university’s campus in Australia. He analyzed the performance of successful anti-corruption agencies in comparable countries to identify the gaps and deficits in the Philippines’ anti-corruption agenda and recommended specific measures to tackle these. He also explained that the key challenge for the current administration is how it can utilize existing institutions to successfully prosecute corruption, even as it seeks to repair these same institutions’ congenital defects.

For Dr. Hartigan-Go, the Dev@Work lecture series provides MDM students with additional insights into the intricacies of development work. “When they attend these talks, our MDM students gain firsthand the know-how they can use to successfully lead, inspire, and transform their communities once their coursework is done and the workplace beckons.”

To receive invitations and get more information on future Dev@Work lectures, contact Tess Magdaleno via email: MMagdaleno@AIM.EDU or telephone 892-4011 ext. 1833.