<p>MANILA, Philippines - It may sound like a high society event, like many others.</p><p>Inside a trendy showroom in Taguig, a group of glamorous, animated ladies show me a variety of beautifully designed and crafted products. However, I am not in Fort Bonifacio, but Barangay Pinagsama the "other," less developed side to Taguig. And these ladies are not exponents of Manila's sosyal scene, but rather they are social entrepreneurs.</p><p>Five ladies, each having ventured abroad and achieved success in their respective lines of business, discovered that their search for true fulfilment in work lay in the Philippines. Initially inspired by Gawad Kalinga's values-driven approach to community development, they were left pondering how best they could put their respective skills to the task of eradicating poverty.</p><p>In 2009, Tony Meloto, the founder of GK, brought them together to see how their individual business skills could unite to support social enterprise development in GK villages. Soon after, the ladies formed GKonomics, a non-profit organization which empowers poor communities to build enterprises that produce world-class products and services in partnership with social entrepreneurs. Thus far, Gkonomics is already supporting 50 enterprises in a total of 74 communities.</p><p><a href="http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/09/01/1156771/social-business-summit-2013-sosyal-or-social-entrepreneur">Keep reading...</a></p>