 CORE FACULTY
Email:
mentors@saidi.edu.ph
Benjamin R. Quiñones, Jr. is a prime mover of solidarity economy in Asia, also known in the Philippines as the ‘Bayanihan Compassionate Economy.” He earned his AB Economics degree from UP Diliman (Quezon City, Philippines), his Master of Arts degree in Agricultural Economics from UP Los Baños (Philippines), and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Organization Development from SAIDI School of Organization Development (Antipolo, Philippines). As Executive Coordinator of the Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy (RIPESS), he oversees the promotion of solidarity economy in five continents. Ben is also the Founding Chairman of the Asian Solidarity Economy Council (ASEC), where he initiated the biennial Asian Solidarity Economy Forum (ASEF) in 2007 and is now being conducted on an annual basis by ASEC partners in some Asian countries.
Ben’s current work on solidarity economy is rooted in his extensive work on small farmer credit, microfinance, and poverty alleviation as an economist of the erstwhile Technical Board for Agricultural Credit (now the Agricultural Credit Policy Council), Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Rural and Agricultural and Credit Association (APRACA, Bangkok) and Regional Coordinator of the Asian and Pacific Development Centre (APDC, Kuala Lumpur). Through APRACA in the 1980’s he designed and carried out the Linkage Banking with Self-Help Groups in 5 Asian countries, which continues to operate today and has become the largest poverty alleviation and microfinance program in India. Through APDC in the1990s he initiated a program that builds up the social responsibility of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This paved the way to a learning journey that eventually brought him to the design and promotion of social-mission oriented economies in contrast to the profit oriented neoliberal economy.
Ben documented his field experience in some publications such “Linking self help groups and banks in developing countries” (1988), “Linkage banking in South Asia – the experience of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh” (1997), “Microfinance and poverty alleviation: Case studies from Asia and the Pacific” (2000), “Social Capital in Microfinance: Case Studies in the Phiiippines” (2000), “Financial linkages in the Philippines: The case of the People’s Credit and Finance Corporation” (2005), and “Sowing the seeds of solidarity economy in Asia” (2011). His pioneering work has been recognized by the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (Distinguished Alumnus Award 1989), the University of Southern Mindanao (Distinguished Alumni Award, 1988), Who’s Who International (member since 2001), APRACA (Distinguished Service Award, 2002), and the Association of Pastors for Outreach and Intercession (Dominant Voice Award, 2009). |