For the SE partners with high growth potential, PEF designed the Accelerating Capacity of Enterprises (ACE) Program, which was rolled out in 2014.

The goal of the ACE program is to develop highly capable SE partners who will bring their enterprises through the stages of growth to maturity while co-fulfilling with PEF the social mission of creating income opportunities for the poor households and changing their communities.  The keystone objective of ACE Program is to make the SE partner investment ready so that it passes the due diligence test of hardnosed social impact investors.

The ACE Program has crafted a four-month, four-module course at the end of which the SE Partner presents its business proposition or “makes a pitch” to social impact investors. Through each module, the SE Partner defines its business model and growth trajectory, while its leaders and officers are equipped with the necessary competencies of business strategic management, financing, risk analysis and management, and organizational design for the enterprise. 

Through provision of training and mentorship on pitching, social mission financing, and other key areas of enterprise growth, PEF commits to develop these promising partners to transform lives of 100,000 poor households by 2015.

SE partners conquered their anxiety and uncertainty towards pitching after attending Module 1 of the ACE Program: Pitching Session.

As part of strengthening its partners to be sustainable enterprises, PEF brought together its ten partners for ACE program’s second module that talked about managing working capital.

2014 was a milestone year for PEF capacity-building for SE Partners. Ten SE partners were selected for the ACE program because of their business growth potential and managerial talent pool.  An amount of Php50, 000 was allocated to each ACE partner to complete the program. A total of 41 managers, officers and board members of the SE Partners acquired new competencies to manage their social enterprise. 

From among the ten, eight SE partners completed the ACE program successfully when they presented their full business proposals to an audience of the Peace and Equity Holdings Company and other potential investors. Consequently, PEF and other impact investors approved a combined initial investment of Php85 million for the eight ready enterprises.

A total of eight invested-ready enterprises were harvested in 2014.

From among the 17 nominated social enterprises, 7 SEs were selected for the 2^nd batch of the ACE program because of their business growth potential and managerial talent pool.

Two partners, Green Life Coco Products, and Bol-anon United Sectors Working for the Advancement of Community Concerns (BUSWACC), successfully completed the ACE Program when they presented their full business proposals for the Foundation.