Sprout Up Philippines

The structure we are presenting our methodology through is based on the Community Weaving Framework co-created by Fabian Pfortmüller, Sascha Mombartz and Nico Luchsinger.

1. People. Who are we?
   • We are technology professionals (or wannabe technology professionals) who want to improve our individuals skills.
   • We also want to contribute towards making more opportunities available to our fellow Boholanos, leveraging the growth of the technology industry (tech-based economic development; a concept inspired by the Center of Rural Innovation).
2. Place. Where do we come from?
   • We are people who currently reside in Bohol because this is our birthplace.
   • We are people who currently reside in Bohol because we travelled to this place and decided to stay here.
   • We are people who want to contribute to Bohol’s growth even though we are based far away; because we still care about our hometown.
3. Purpose. Why do we come together?
   • We love Bohol and want to make it a better place with more opportunities.
   • Innovation excites us and we feel it is meaningful seeing it applied in our hometown.
   • We are currently trying to find our own path (in the technology industry or other tangential industries) and feel that contributing to a cause that promotes innovation through technology is a worthwhile purpose for the moment.
   • We want to be surrounded by ambitious and like-minded people so we feel productive during our free time.
   • We want better opportunities for ourselves and acknowledge that the only way to do that, aside from moving to a different province, is to create these opportunities ourselves in our hometown.
   • We are established professionals who feel like we are in a good enough position to be able to give back and share opportunities that others might not have access to.
   • We are innovators and entrepreneurs (or at least entrepreneurial) and acknowledge that community is a long-term investment that can benefit us down the line.
4. Principle. What do we stand for?
   • We understand that we must always act in the community’s best interest.
   • We acknowledge that doing the right thing also means doing the hard thing; and we are committed in doing the right thing.
   • We believe in the spirit of volunteerism so the organization should always be volunteer-led.
   • We do not force people to join any of our events or programs.
     • Embodying the Four Immutable Laws of Spirit by Harrison Owen:
       • Whoever shows up are exactly the right people to show up
       • When it begins is exactly the right time.
       • Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened.
       • When it’s over, it’s over.
     • Similarly, we do not force ourselves to do community work if we are not in the right personal space or situation to do so.
   • We believe that passion and trust are characteristics that connect us, so we must make decisions that always helps us preserve this in our community.
   • We genuinely care for each other wholistically, and we are not afraid to be honest and critical when we communicate.
   • We believe that creating events primarily for local professionals as our primary audience will help us shorten our time-to-impact; but we do not discriminate against driven and passionate students.
5. Value. What creates value for people?
   • When engaging with members, people are always met with interest and enthusiasm.
   • We use events as a means to an end; we acknowledge that it is the main tool we can use to proactively bring opportunities to our locality.
   • Each opportunity we create is thoughtfully considered based on the community’s interest, manpower available during the timing of the activity, and what resources are currently available.
6. Practices. What do we do regularly?
   • We organize monthly events (at lease one) to continually engage the community:
     • PechaKucha Nights – this is an event format that allows us to celebrate local entrepreneurs (and leaders) by giving them a stage to enthuse about their ongoing projects regardless of industry.
     • Workshops – this is an event format that would require a resource speaker and participants, with learning topics defined by community members and volunteers. All events are free unless a speaker from out of town is invited because their skillset isn’t available locally.
     • Jams – NEW! this is an event format that can be interpreted as a “cross-discipline hackathon” that aims to foster a builder’s culture.
   • We organize annual events like Startup Weekend to bring together the larger community through the desire of solving problems.
   • We participate in conferences and events outside of Bohol to further enrich our perspectives and bring back new ideas.
7. Channels. How do we communicate?
   • Our Facebook page serves as our primary social media channel in making announcements to the public.
   • Facebook event pages for the different activities we organize is created to better sort specific announcements and promotions.
   • Facebook Messenger is our instant messaging platform of choice. We have three key group chats for:
     • Core Volunteers
     • Volunteers
     • Participants
     • and on-demand group chats with partners, mentors, and sponsors
8. Pathways. How can new people join?
   • We accept new volunteers every year in October and everyone is automatically added to our Volunteer group chat
     • Every quarter afterwards, there is a “purging” of members from the Volunteers group chat. Those who are inactive (as judged by the Core Volunteers) are moved to the Participants group chat.
   • We do not discriminate on who can participate. Anyone can join any of our events and activities; other than our team building activity which is only open to active Volunteers.
   • Resource Speakers and Sponsors are encouraged to follow our newsletter to keep track of the community’s progress, and Volunteers are encouraged to maintain relationships with partners they have worked with.
9. Roles. What roles can we play?
   • It is understood that community members can move through these roles over time:
     • Core Volunteers are selected from the pool of Volunteers from the previous year. It is done through a vouching system, often favoring those who repeatedly organize events rather than just those who regularly participate.
     • Volunteers are invited yearly and are also invited to organize planned events in a given month. We understand that not everyone is always available so opportunities to engage are dependent upon the Volunteers’ willingness and availability.
     • Participants are expected to not only show up but also engage in the format of their choice. They are expected to give feedback and make suggestions for the improvement of future efforts. They can also help suggest partners we can engage with.
     • Partners are individuals or entities who have resources they can share with us and who also have a stake in the development of the local innovation ecosystem. They must be sincere in their desire to contribute and must work with the Volunteers rather than against them.
10. Money. How do we resource ourselves?
    • We operate on the generosity of the larger community; where that is shared resources from Partners, or donations and contributions from Participants.
11. Power. How do we make decisions?
    • The Core Volunteers drive the method of operations for the organization, but it is the Volunteers and Participants who decide what efforts to pursue for the year.
      • This can be expressed through the Annual Planning Session, or ad hoc through privately or publicly messaging Core Volunteers.
12. Healing. What needs healing?
    • We need to make these beliefs the status quo because they are not yet embodied by the general majority:
      • We deserve better opportunities, skills and education, employers, employees, and government policies.
      • We are worth it; we are skilled, confident, good at what we do, and we believe in ourselves and each other.
      • Bohol is worth it; the place that we love is worth fighting for so it can be better.
      • We can create opportunities where there is none.
      • We can work together despite our differences to achieve a larger goal.