Veronica Colondam
Veronica Colondam champions the field of social entrepreneurship in Indonesia with the establishment of YCAB Foundation in 1999. YCAB Foundation is the founding and flagship organisation in the YCAB social enterprise group which bases its operations on a mutually reinforcing and financially sustainable social change model. YCAB’s mission is to improve welfare through education and inclusive financing impacting the lives of four million underprivileged youth through education and half a million women micro entrepreneurs through inclusive financing where education of their children is made the precondition to loan.
YCAB is among the few organisations in Asia to receive the General Consultative status with the United Nations ECOSOC & ranks #32 of Top 100 SPO/NGO in the World by a Geneva-based NGO Advisor (January 2020). Veronica is also an independent commissioner of the largest state-owned microfinance company (PNM) with 7 million active customers.
Double degree in communications and public relations, obtained her MSc. in social science from Imperial College London. Alumni of special postgraduate education for WEF’s Young Global Leader in HKS, 2009 & Yale, 2013; Social Entrepreneurship (INSEAD, 2010); Impact Investing (Oxford, 2012).
A published author and speaker; recipient of two United Nation awards (Vienna, 2001 & New York, 2017); YGL (2006); Fellow of Asia21 Young Leader (2007); EY Social Entrepreneur of the Year (2011); Schwab’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year (2012); Forbes' 48 Asian Philanthropist (2015).
Married with three grown children. Veronica enjoys traveling as part of her dedication to give back and inspire the next gen through lectures, coaching & mentorship.
- Visit their website
- YCAB Foundation
- Contact via
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- Model
- Hybrid Social Enterprise
- Sectors
- Education; Youth Perspectives; Sustainable Development
- Headquarters
- Indonesia
- Areas of Impact
- ASEAN, Myanmar, Lao PDR
YCAB Foundation
Established in 1999, YCAB Foundation is the founding and flagship organization of the YCAB Social Enterprise Group, which bases its operations on a mutually reinforcing and financially sustainable social change model. YCAB's mission is to improve welfare through education and inclusive financing. YCAB aims to encourage underprivileged youths to become self-reliant through economic empowerment and education as it believes in the power of education to break the poverty cycle.
To accomplish this mission, YCAB applies innovative financing to break financial barriers for school dropouts so they can further their education, including soft skills and vocational training. YCAB achieves this by implementing unique, mission-driven microfinance where education is the precondition to a loan. Since 2010, 116,337 women microentrepreneurs have received loans. The repayment rate is 98.4%. Furthermore, around 70% of YCAB's graduates get jobs and retain them for at least one year following their graduation; women microentrepreneurs can double their daily income within 12 months of intervention because they are able to use their loan to grow their microbusinesses. Many of them became more confident in planning their future and to start saving for it. In addition, almost every microfinance group of women will send at least one youth back to school every year, bringing in thousands of youth who would otherwise have dropped out.
YCAB is now exploring ways to implement the last link in its change model: to create a sustainable system whereby students who graduate and become entrepreneurs or employed can pay it forward, by giving back or investing in a mutual fund to help grow and scale YCAB's mission-driven microfinance so more youths will be empowered to take control of their own destiny. To date, YCAB has empowered more than 3.3 million youths; by 2020, YCAB aims to reach five million youths in six countries in South-East Asia and raise $50 million in social investment funds. Since 2013, YCAB has actively operated its education programmes in Myanmar and Laos.
awardees
Our awardees
Njideka U. Harry
Colin McElwee
