Filipino Cemetery Volunteer Educator Nominated for an International Award in London

A cemetery volunteer teacher from the Philippines’ ATD Fourth World Foundation has been nominated as the Community Employee of the Year in the Investors in People (IIP) Awards 2019. IIP is a standard for people management across the globe.

Reymond “Rey” de Jesus is a member of a volunteer organization that envisions a world without poverty, primarily focusing on education and human rights. Through ATD’s “Ang Galing” education program, Rey spends his Saturdays teaching street children in the Manila North Cemetery. The graveyard becomes an alternative avenue for bolstering learning because of its accessibility to the poor communities.

Rey began volunteering for ATD in 2010. One of the reasons he keeps on with his volunteer work is because of the children who inspire him. “When you start to notice that there is already change from the children, after weeks, months, or years that you are with them, it will put a smile on your face. You will notice a change in terms of how they read, how they write, and even how they interact with people,” he says.

Apart from being a volunteer, Rey is also a Financial Planning and Analysis Manager at TaskUs. The company’s unique appraisal process on rewarding passion and purpose was able to shed light on Rey’s work for ATD, and because of this, he was empowered to set up an ‘Ang Galing’ group in his office. Today, there are over 300 TaskUs employees who are part of the program. This became the springboard for the company to nominate Rey for IIP’s Community Employee of the Year award.

TaskUs has won The Social Responsibility Award has also been shortlisted for the Diversity and Inclusion category.