The Facebook Community Accelerator, which helps leaders harness the power of their community in Southeast Asia, has announced the culmination of its 8-month-long program.
The program, launched by Meta (parent company of Facebook) in partnership with the region’s leading startup ecosystem platform, e27, aims to turn the impactful ideas of community leaders into actions.
The 19 community leaders, who underwent hundreds of hours of training, coaching and mentorship, showcased themselves on Demo Day on March 31, 2022. They shared their learnings, the impact they have made on the members of their communities and their future vision with the ecosystem partners.
A vetted list of 15 external Judges from across the Asia Pacific and more than a hundred interested curated Ecosystem Partners attended the event.
Check out the original 19 communities and their leaders here.
The power of communities and their impact
“Communities can touch and transform lives,” remarked Ellen Alarilla, Head of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility (Southeast Asia and Oceania) at Ericsson. Acknowledging the community leaders’ outstanding efforts, she added, “They all had solid, ambitious plans to scale and extend their impact beyond their current reach and have already touched and transformed lives in their communities.”
Throughout the programme, the communities showed their tremendous power in bringing an impact. According to Holly O’Keeffe, a judge of the program and Chief Impact Officer of Thegoodgap, former-CSR lead at Experian Asia Pacific communities are changing the world with technologies.
“We have become so used to tech playing an everyday role in our lives that we often take it for granted. The accelerator shone a bright light on the many new ways leaders use technology to change the world for the better and why it’s important to support leaders on their missions,” said O’Keeffe.
Echoing a similar sentiment, Thibaut Briere, Founder of GrowthMarketing Studio, added that he was moved by the fact that each community leader has tried to solve real, concrete problems that have affected people. They go through a lot of work to bring people together and support the community, Briere said.
Gina, a coach, Founder of Connected Women and a community builder of over 16 years, commented that she wished she had received this kind of support in her early days. She also applauded Meta for giving special focus on developing community leaders and helping them put a framework in place for sustainability.
“Too many wonderful communities are short-lived or continue to become a burden to the founders because they fail to find ways to be sustainable. This programme placed an importance on the role of community leadership and helps founders create long-term, wide-scale impact as they become sustainable and scale.”
Also Read: How collaborations between these Facebook communities yield better impact
A few of the communities coached by Gina during the programme showed tremendous progress and saw up to a 33 per cent increase in engagement.
Amplifying impact and further support
As part of the programme, a selected few communities received up to US$30,000 in additional funding with the help of US-based non-profit Global Giving.
Below are the details of the communities that have received funding and their stories:
The Bicycle Scouts Project, Inc
- Country: the Philippines
- Community Lead: Myles Delfin
Created in 2013 by Myles Delfin, Bike Scouts provides a network of support and alternative means of access to communication and essential supplies in the aftermath of severe disasters. It is a social teamwork platform for anyone who wants to do something good for their community or anywhere in the world where help is needed. Since its inception, Bike Scouts has grown to add multiple pages and local community groups where they can make a difference.
The programme has enabled Bike Scouts to further scale the membership to 4,000 team leaders around the Philippines. These members themselves are the leaders of their local groups, representing Bike Scouts in their respective regions.
These members have at least 150,000 volunteers who helped serve over 40,000 requests for assistance over the past eight years and delivered 5,000 bicycles for donation. They also secured a social purpose brand activation client project worth US$38,000.
“I feel that the end of the program is just the start of our work. We will all accomplish awesome things with our communities using the lessons we’ve learned from all our amazing coaches, mentors, teachers, and friends. I am eternally grateful for that opportunity and all the incredible moments of joy and a sense of family,” said Delfin.
- Country: the Philippines
- Community lead: Jason Dela Rosa
In March 2020, Jason Dela Rosa started Bounce Back PH to help small businesses and subject matter experts endure and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to create a community where businesses and business leaders can work together and help each other recover from the crisis. With over 65,000 members, the group has launched hundreds of learning and mentorship programs, donation drives, retooling, and business matching activities for SMEs.
Also Read: Facebook Community Accelerator Program introduces the 19 communities of the 2021 APAC cohort
Through the Facebook Community Accelerator program, Bounce Back achieved several milestones. It over-achieved its revenue goal by 133 per cent and engaged more than 9x more partners. It also launched the first-ever Metaverse bazaar to help push sales for its members. In addition to that, Bounceback also enrolled 126 scholars who were mentored by 45 business executives and industry leaders. It also gained 7,000 new members during this period and launched an influencer program with over 10 million audience reach to help MSMEs to gain traction.
Dela Rosa said: “I want to thank all the community leaders for being the light in times of darkness, and for all the inspiration for us to be better each time for our communities. To our coach, Tamara, the e27 team, and Meta, you have placed our vision on the right track when all seems confusing. We will never forget this experience ever. You can always count on me for future collaborations.”
- Country: the Philippines
- Community Lead: Frances Cabatuando
Home Buddies, started by Frances Cabatuando, wanted to inspire and equip Filipinos with ideas on how they could live and work while stuck at home during the pandemic. It aims to give Filipino home enthusiasts a safe, creative space where they can share and exchange home improvement tips and design inspirations.
Today, Home Buddies have managed to become a three million-strong community and continues to shape the local home improvement scene — hosting free webinars, empowering small businesses, and creating jobs for displaced workers. Its highly engaged community also enjoys weekly parenting talks, on-ground events, and exclusive promos and merchandise.
This year, Home Buddies continues to expand its influence with a subgroup called Home Buddies Hangouts. Here, the tight-knit community continues to share and exchange tips, with an exciting focus on how to create a more memorable and worthwhile home away from home experience.
“Huge congratulations to all my fellow community leaders! Thank you all for making me realize that I’m not alone in my mission to make the world a better place. Thank you so much to all our coaches and mentors for the guidance and wisdom imparted throughout the programme. We bring great inspiration to create a more meaningful impact on all our Home Buddies. Thanks so much!” said Cabatuando.
- Country: Malaysia
- Community Lead: Johnson Lam
Johnson Lam started KakiRepair in 2017 as a movement to encourage people to fix their stuff rather than throw them away. KakiRepair by KakiDIY is a collaborative platform powered by the community to post-repair related issues, diagnose, fix, and learn from one another. Its 47,000+ members actively post repair-related issues and constantly help each other solve problems and share best practices.
Today, KakiRepair has achieved notable achievements and hugely impacted the community and others. They created more than 50,000 PPE kits for frontline workers during the pandemic and refurbished and donated over 1,000 computers to underprivileged students. Other projects included helping flood repair missions wherein the community repaired more than 400 items for flood victims saving over RM 400,000 (US$90,000) of damages.
Kakirepair also won the Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation’s Innovator of the Year award. KakiRepair has continuously proven itself to be a community sourcing platform.
During the accelerator program, it created a new knowledge management platform with more than 500 sign-ups. KakiRepair’s future programs include travelling nationwide in its MakerVan, a motorhome converted into a moving maker space.
Johnson Lam said: “Thank You for recognizing the results and validating the impact of KakiRepair on the community and environment. This will fuel us to do more and accelerate our plans further, bringing KakiRepair across the border to APAC and beyond.”
Scoliosis Philippines Support Group Inc. (ScoliosisPH)
- Country: the Philippines
- Community Lead: Amanda Glenda M Bonife-Kiamko
Amanda Glenda M Bonife-Kiamko created the Scoliosis Philippines Support Group on Facebook to raise awareness, help give scoliosis patients a forum to share their issues and stories, and provide psychosocial support. Its 31,000+ members have been able to connect with other patients and make them feel empowered through meetups, awareness events, learning sessions, and story sharing.
The Facebook Community program helped Scoliosis PH conduct strategic planning, launch learning and wellness programs, and establish partnerships with multiple partners. Scoliosis Philippines has grown with more than 35,300 members, and its community page has over 70,000 followers. It also aims to reach out to more patients through a newly established 17 regional chapters that engage, educate and empower through their programs and Special Interest Clubs.
Also Read: How can you build a living, thriving community around your SaaS product?
Scoliosis PH built the Philippine Registry of Scoliosis Patients mobile app during the program. It is an initiative to support its goal of attaining equality, social justice, and rights for scoliosis patients and ensure that these rights are respected and guaranteed.
Bonife-Kiamko said, “Shout out and massive thanks to our excellent Meta, coach, e27 team and Ecosystem Partners, besides all the stakeholders involved. Thanks for mentoring and giving us this life-changing opportunity to learn, grow, and establish the Scoliosis Philippines Foundation, creating sustainable initiatives. Thank you to our APAC Cohort for inspiring us with your impactful communities and giving us sincere support throughout the program. It’s truly an honour to have shared this amazing journey with you all!”
- Country: Singapore
- Community lead: Mar Pages
Solo Female Travelers was started in 2015 as a place for women who love to travel independently to connect. The group empowers women to travel solo safely and on their terms via the communities, online resources, and women-only small group tours. The community has empowered thousands of women to take their first solo trip safely and confidently, breaking stereotypes, expectations, and barriers.
The Facebook program helped Solo Female Travelers to make numerous achievements and impacts — from increasing the community members to 150,000 members across different platforms. It also pioneered and supported more new travel destinations worldwide, made possible by additional team members from across the globe. It also has 92 per cent more page traffic growth. As such, the communities continue to bring impact in supporting women entrepreneurs through their partners and their work.
Mar Pages said, “Thanks to the Meta team and to my coach, Tamara, for supporting our dream and mission of empowering women through travel. You helped us bridge the gap between the seed of an idea and a growing tree. To my fellow Community Leaders, you inspire me every day to continue doing the work we do with passion and dedication, and you bring much light and positivity to my day.”
Final note
The six communities mentioned above were selected as the additional funding recipients from the original 19 communities who attended this year’s cohort (check out the other 13 communities and their leaders here). Each of these communities is considered the top in their respective countries. Each representative is an industry leader in their own capacity to turn their impactful ideas into action.
We would like to congratulate all the cohort members of the Facebook Community Accelerator 2021-2022 for amplifying their message to scalable and groundbreaking heights! These communities have shown tremendous growth over the last month, and their work will continue to make an impact.
If you are an organisation working on similar projects that align with our communities, reach out and engage with the community leaders for an exciting collaboration!
Visit the Meta Blog and the Facebook Community Accelerator Program official page for more information.
Disclaimer: All data and numbers are sourced from the community group data provided by Bike Scouts, Home Buddies, Bounce Back PH, Kakirepair, ScoliosisPH, and Solo Female Travelers.
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Image credit: Facebook Community Accelerator
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