(From left) James de Vera, Executive Director, TAYO Awards Foundation; Aika Robredo, President, TAYO Awards Foundation; Michael Ngan, Country General Manager, Lenovo Philippines; and Rollie Fabi, Co-chairman of the Board of Directors, TAYO Awards Foundation
“It is always rewarding to see the youth envisioning a better world, and never standing in the sidelines to wait for something to happen, but instead going ahead and making their vision a reality,” said Michael Ngan, country general manager of Lenovo Philippines.
As in previous years, Lenovo will choose from the 20 finalists to award the “Lenovo Most Innovative Project”, a special citation given to the organization with the most meaningful project that has helped address pressing issues of today’s youth including education disparity, illiteracy, and poverty through the innovative use of technology. The TAYO Awardees will also each receive P50,000 cash grant from the TAYO presentor and a trophy sculpted by Toym de Leon Imao.
In its 13th year, the TAYO Awards has made the search more rigorous by coming up with additional features and highlighting novel entries. Five new TAYO categories have been included to acknowledge the variety and strength of organizations focusing on similar advocacies:
(1) Education and Technology
(2) Health, Nutrition and Well-Being
(3) Environment, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Climate Change Adaptation
(4) Livelihood and Entrepreneurship
(5) Culture and the Arts and Peace and Human Development
Entries will be competing with other organizations listed in the same category. The four best entries in each category will be invited to the TAYO week as finalists.
Another vital component introduced this year is the TAYO Videos, wherein documentary videos will feature the top 20 finalists, to be published on the official TAYO website. These videos are subject to public voting where people can vote for their chosen TAYO story for the TAYO People’s Choice Award. By sharing their story through video, each finalist can inform and inspire their fellow youth.
Open to all Filipino youth groups, organizations, clubs and societies with at least five members who are 30 years old and below, the TAYO Awards chooses the ten best groups whose projects had the most impact on the community. The TAYO Awards 13 will be accepting online submission of entries until September 4, 2015. The TAYO Awards was co-founded by Senator Bam Aquino and former Senator Francis Pangilinan, with the TAYO Awards Foundation and the National Youth Commission (NYC) in 2002.
