Continuing Marissa Camacho’s legacy by empowering women
On its 21st founding anniversary on November 29, 2022, the Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) awarded the Marissa Camacho Legacy Fund (MCLF) to Kabuhayan sa Ganap na Kasarinlan Credit and Savings Cooperative (KCOOP).
The Marissa Camacho Legacy Fund is a Php22 million fund for advancing women entrepreneurship and supporting social enterprise innovation, youth leadership, and a professorial chair in a major university.
As the chosen microfinance institution, KCOOP will manage Php20 million fund and use the earnings as financial and technical assistance to at least 1,800 women entrepreneur members in Caloocan and Quezon City.
KCOOP will also train target members on managing and growing their small businesses in partnership with government institutions and other organizations.
During the pitching event held on November 24, 2002, KCOOP Chair Martiniana Mancio thanked PEF for choosing KCOOP as the recipient of the fund.
“This fund given to us is bound to change the lives of our women members in the impoverished areas,” she said.
KCOOP is a cooperative that is part of a group of organizations known as KASAGANA-KA Synergizing Organizations. It aims to help improve the quality of life of its members in urban and peri-urban communities through authentic economic and social empowerment using microfinance as a strategy for its members to gain access to collateral-free credit for self-help activities.
Through the MCLF, PEF pays tribute to Marissa Camacho, who, along with other development leaders, founded PEF in 2001 to support civil society development programs that create positive change in the lives of poor Filipino households.