EVP alumnus named “One of Ten Outstanding Students in the Philippines”

Brian Adam Anay, a former EVP participant in the Peer to Peer (P2P): Facebook Global Digital Challenge, has been named as one of “Ten Outstanding Students in the Philippines” (TOSP). Anay was valedictorian of his 2017 class at Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan and served as leader of the university’s “I Am Mindanao” P2P team which advanced to the international finals in spring 2017 and took fourth place in Washington, D.C.

The TOSP program honors Filipino students “who personify academic excellence, exemplary leadership and deep sense of social responsibility, all anchored on good moral values,” according to the program’s Facebook page. The organization conducts an extensive nationwide search, selecting regional finalists, then the final ten awardees in their quest to honor and establish young role models that will inspire others to action, bringing about “total human and economic development in the nation.”

At the awards ceremony in Manila, the Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship, Joey Concepcion, shared with the honorees, “No matter what you’ve accomplished, no matter what degree or honor you get … What is important is what you do with what you’re blessed with.”

As for how Anay has been utilizing his skills and degree since graduation, he shared in an interview with his former EVP representative, Shavanna, that he has worked with the Coalition for Better Education, a nonprofit that aims to improve education in the Philippines, as a project specialist. And he most recently took a position as Head of Media for a nonprofit that aims to fight human trafficking in-country, called Global Impact.

“I am forever grateful for the opportunity EVP gave us to scale up our project. Thank you to (Shavanna), other staff and Tony,” Anay said. “The ‘I Am Mindanao’ project played a very big role in putting me on the list (for this award).”

In addition to serving in an advisory and mentorship capacity for his alma mater’s new P2P teams, IAM and PeaceKwela, Anay has also worked to help organize LuvEx (Loving Exceptionalities), a campaign that aimed to spread awareness about children with special needs, and most recently, a new campaign called PAGbASA, a Filipino term which means “to read.” This effort aims to significantly increase the reading skills of non-reader students in public elementary schools in low income communities by promoting early grade literacy through strengthened (S)chool-(H)ome-(C)ommunity networks, with a highlight on Mother Tongue-based Multilingual Education.

“It has been a pretty exciting and busy year,” he said.