East-West Seed Appoints New Chairman of the Board

Wazzup Pilipinas!

East-West Seed is pleased to announce that Ard Groot has been appointed the Chairman of the Supervisory Board (SB) effective 1 January 2018. He succeeds his father and company founder Simon Groot, who will continue to serve the Board as Honorary Chairman and Founder.

Ard Groot succeeds Simon Groot as chairman of the supervisory board of leading tropical vegetable seed company East-West Seed.

“I’m greatly inspired to take up this role, with the support of our members of the supervisory board (SB), our dynamic and forward-looking board of management (BOM), dedicated managers and all our 5,000 professional and hard-working staff around the world,” said Ard Groot. “I am happy to build on the legacy that my father Simon worked so persistently to create. We have come a long way in the last 35 years. Since our humble beginnings, we have established strong and mature companies in many countries. Innovation leading to improved vegetable crops with better yield and quality is now fully accepted and appreciated by farmers.”

Ard’s appointment upholds the stability and continuity of the family ownership of the business, which the board considers crucial to sustaining East-West Seed’s long-term vision. He served as Vice Chairman of the Board since 2012. Longtime seed industry professional Douwe Zijp will take over the role of Vice Chairman. In his role Ard will continue to closely collaborate with the Board of Management, consisting of CEO Bert van der Feltz van der Sloot, Vice President Simon Jan de Hoop, and Vice President Michel Devarrewaere, who are charged with executive management of the company.

Founder Simon Groot emphasizes the company’s long-term vision to serve smallholder farmers in the tropics. “It gives me a sense of pride to pass on the leadership of the Board into the new generation, ensuring that East-West Seed remains an independent, privately owned and most importantly, farmer-centric company. I am convinced that this is the best way to sustain our long-term vision. Serving farmers has always been, and will always be the driver of East-West Seed.”

Smallholder vegetable farmers in the tropics are East-West Seed’s main clients.

Bert van der Feltz, president and CEO of East-West Seed, is optimistic about the company’s future. “We remain focused in developing the tropical vegetable markets in Asia, Africa and tropical Americas. We want to bring East-West Seed to a greater level of granularity -- to know our farmers better and offer them innovative, tailormade solutions. Knowledge transfer, something that is unique to East-West, will continue to be our main instrument for farmer development and market stimulation. We will develop further as a robust organization of talented seed professionals working together as one team, passionate about our mission. Ard Groot’s leadership of the supervisory board is essential in this process of expansion and organizational growth.”

The ceremonial turnover of the SB chairmanship took place on 24 January 2018 in Hortanova Farm in the Philippines, whose significance as the birthplace of East-West Seed made the occasion more special and meaningful.

The Supervisory Board forms the basis of East-West Seed’s corporate governance. They perform a non-executive role and are appointed to promote the company’s interests by supervising and giving advice to the Board of Management. The current SB is composed of Ard Groot (chairman), Douwe Zijp (vice chairman), Dietrich Schmidt, Ivan Chung, Rutger Groot, Joost Pekelharing, Johnny Santos, James Amatavivadhana, and Simon Groot (honorary chairman and founder).

Tough Mudder Expands Into the Philippines with Proactive Sports Management

Wazzup Pilipinas!

First Tough Mudder in the Philippines is scheduled this July 2018

Tough Mudder, Inc., a leading sport, active lifestyle and media brand, and Proactive Sports Management, a premier sports agency known for organizing the largest fun runs in the Philippines, announced today a new partnership to bring the world’s leading obstacle course event, Tough Mudder, to the Philippines for the first time in 2018. This marks the first time Tough Mudder has licensed its events in the country. Tough Mudder holds events on five out of the six habitable continents.

The inaugural Philippine’s Tough Mudder Event Weekend will take place in July, followed by another event in November 2018.  Both events will feature Tough Mudder’s signature obstacles.

“This is the first time that Tough Mudder will be in the Philippines, and Tough Mudder is not just about being tough, it is also about teamwork and determination,” said Proactive COO Justine Cordero.

This new licensee follows the success of Tough Mudder’s licensed events – hosted to date in Mexico, Bali, Ireland, United Arab Emirates, and Australia. It will provide access to events for active lifestyle individuals living or visiting the Philippines seeking the challenge, camaraderie and thrills that only a Tough Mudder experience can offer.

“Tough Mudder events have united millions seeking a more engaging, communal form of active lifestyle.  We are excited to partner with Proactive Sports Management, who have a proven track record for success for athletic events in the Philippines, to ensure locals and tourists alike will have the same unparalleled experience that has made Tough Mudder the must-do event for OCR enthusiasts and weekend warriors alike,” said Will Dean, CEO and Co-Founder, Tough Mudder.  

With more than 3 million participants to date across five continents, Tough Mudder has offerings ranging from accessible yet rewarding challenges, such as the Tough Mudder 5K and Tough Mudder Half (five-mile event excluding fire, ice and electricity), to competitive events, such as Tough Mudder X (the toughest mile on the planet) and World’s Toughest Mudder (24-hour endurance event).

This year, Tough Mudder, Inc. and its licensees will host an unprecedented 150+ events across nearly a dozen countries, such as the United States, The United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Canada and two new countries, South Africa and Oman, welcoming participants worldwide into a global community that lives courage, personal accomplishment, teamwork and fun.

Tough Mudder in the Philippines is held in partnership with Proactive Sports Management, a sports events company which started in 2012, and is known in the industry for staging various marathons and mass participation events.

Registration is ongoing, for more information, please visit FB/ToughMudderPhilippines.

One Championship Global Citizen Ambassadors Visit Youth in Tondo Area Manila

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The largest global sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), recently held an athlete outreach activity that saw ONE Championship athletes visit youth living in metropolitan Manila. Global Citizen Athlete Ambassadors Angela Lee, Brandon Vera, and Eduard Folayang, in conjunction with Young Focus, spent time with children from Smokey Mountain Area, while spreading a message of hope and the importance of access to education.

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Young Focus is a local NGO in the Philippines that provides underprivileged youth in the Tondo, or “Smokey Mountain” Area of Manila the chance to develop themselves intellectually, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. Through education, Young Focus addresses poverty directly by giving the next generation the best possible opportunities in life.

Athletes toured the area, met community members and visited Young Focus centers which cater to children from infancy, preschool, all the way up to the tertiary educational level. Young Focus founders Paul and Ann Wijgerden have over 1,500 children from the area participating in the program. Athletes not only helped children of all ages in their various classes, from English to Mathematics, to Music and Dance, but also inspired them by sharing their own personal stories and reinforcing the importance of education. The day finished with a martial arts demonstration.

ONE Championship also invited 100 Young Focus students and staff to attend the ONE: GLOBAL SUPERHEROES event on Friday night, 26 January at the Mall of Asia Arena.

As part of the partnership with Global Citizen to encourage fans to become Global Citizens and take action, ONE athletes will continue to play their part in driving this social movement as well as supporting local initiatives that provide access to education to tackle extreme poverty.

To learn more about the ONE Championship and Global Citizen partnership, visit www.globalcitizen.org/one. For more information on Young Focus, please visit www.youngfocus.org.

Wei Soo, Co-Founder of Global Citizen, stated: “Young Focus and its students are a great example of what we can achieve when a community is able to prioritize education for all. It was exciting to see their work firsthand today, and hear directly from students whose lives have been changed by the power of education. At Global Citizen, we're thrilled to team up with ONE Championship and its fans throughout Asia, and encourage world leaders to invest in education and give millions of people around the world the tools they need for a better future.”

Angela Lee, Global Citizen Athlete Ambassador, stated: “Today was an experience unlike any other. I am truly humbled and honored to have walked these streets, laughed with these people and shared so many smiles with everyone on Smokey Mountain. For me and my fellow Global Citizen Ambassadors, Brandon and Eduard, this is truly the most rewarding thing. We love giving back to our communities! Thank you ONE Championship, Global Citizen and Young Focus for having us here today. We can’t wait to be back!”

Brandon Vera, Global Citizen Athlete Ambassador, stated: “Hanging out with the children was an awesome privilege. It made me appreciate everything a lot more and has motivated me to give back even more when I can. If I am able to help these kids it means the world to me. I have been fortunate enough to be raised in an environment where I never had to face what these kids have to deal with on a daily basis. If only to inspire them to work hard and study hard so they can chase their dreams, then I’m all for it. Hope is important because even just a little bit of it goes a long way. Thank you to ONE Championship and Global Citizen for allowing us this opportunity.”

Eduard Folayang, Global Citizen Athlete Ambassador, stated: “It was such an amazing experience, of course. You really feel for the hardship my countrymen are experiencing now, especially the youth. As a ONE Championship athlete, it is my honor to be able to give back to the Filipino people. I’m sure the entire world would also love to be a part of this movement, so I encourage everyone to check out Global Citizen and how each of us can help in our own little ways.”

ONE Championship recently announced a partnership with Global Citizen, an international advocacy organization with the goal of ending extreme poverty across the world by 2030. The partnership will harness the power of ONE’s platform to engage millions of martial arts fans around the world to support initiatives and find solutions to the issues associated with extreme poverty. Global Citizen and ONE will collaborate across 24 live ONE events scheduled in 2018, and various outreach activations throughout Asia. Fans will have the opportunity to take action and engage with specific policy areas including, education, food security, hunger and nutrition, global health, and gender equality and empowerment.

The first action ONE fans can take will be centred on global education. Fans will be able to call on donor countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and India, to attend the Global Partnership for Education’s (GPE) replenishment conference in Dakar, Senegal on 2 February 2018, and make a commitment to GPE to support better education for all. Currently, 264 million children around the world are missing out on an education. Over half are girls, and over 75 million have had their schooling disrupted by conflict or natural disasters. At the replenishment conference, the GPE will raise much needed funds that will allow it to continue to support quality, inclusive education to hundreds of millions of children around the world.

Headquartered in New York with offices in Canada, Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom, Global Citizen was founded in 2012 with the goal of building the largest platform where people can learn about issues, take action on what matters most, and join a global movement working to end extreme poverty by 2030. Since then, millions of Global Citizens around the world have taken over ten million actions, which includes millions of emails, tweets, petition signatures, and phone calls targeting world leaders to end extreme poverty by 2030. To date, the actions by Global Citizen’s global community, along with its high-level advocacy efforts and various partners, have resulted in 130 commitments and policy announcements from leaders, including financial aid valued at over US $35-billion, that is set to affect the lives of over 1.3 billion people.

ONE Championship, Asia’s largest global sports media property, is a celebration of Asia’s greatest cultural treasure, martial arts. The promotion engages millions of people across Asia by building local martial arts superheroes, telling their inspirational stories of perseverance and triumph through martial arts, which has been home in Asia for the past 5,000 years.

For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.