Program Director for Social & Development Entrepreneurship, Asian Institute of Management
Professor Marie Lisa M. Dacanay joined the faculty of the Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (ACE) after completing a two-year assignment at the Philippine Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). She was designated Program Director for Social and Development Entrepreneurship. Prof. Dacanay was manager of the DAR-ADB ARCP, the department’s largest foreign-assisted project funded by the Asian Development Bank. She also served as adviser to the DAR Secretary on countryside development. Before joining government, Prof. Dacanay was vice president of the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM). As manager she worked on the operationalization of PRRM’s Sustainable Rural District Development Program (SRDDP) with farmers, fisher folk and indigenous communities. She spearheaded the National Affairs Committee of the University of the Philippines Student Council and other youth organizations during the martial law era in the late 70s and early 80s. She was deputy secretary general of the Asian Students' Association (ASA) based in Hong Kong from 1983-85. She was the working group leader and editor of PATHWAYS (1999), a research-book project of the Conference of Asian Foundations and Organizations (CAFO). She continues to be part of CAFO’s leadership as Executive Committee member at the regional level and as country coordinator for the Philippines. Her recent published works include Citizenship and Sustainable Development in the Philippines (1999), What Makes a Practice Exemplary? (1999) and Strategic Planning for Sustainable Area Development Intervention (1999). Prof. Dacanay holds a Master in Development Management (With Distinction) from the Asian Institute of Management (1996). She received a Bachelor of Science in Statistics from the University of the Philippines (1983).