This year the U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council is pleased to present the International Cooperative Innovation Award to Joy Doronila Palmada. She has a long history of cooperative development in her district of the Philippines, dating back to 1990 when she helped form a marginalized group of market vendors into a cooperative in Pavia, Iloilo Philippines, now known as Pavia Entrepreneurs Multi-Purpose Cooperative (PEMPC).  Joy was also instrumental in forming a local transport cooperative.

KOOP KAPATID (Big Brother/Small Brother Program) is a Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) program applying the cooperative principle of “Cooperation among Cooperatives”. As an advocate of this program, together with Region VI CDA Joy ensured her cooperative PEMPC entered into a memorandum of agreement with newly registered cooperatives. As a cooperative leader with 23 years of experience, she provided guidance and training for new cooperatives in:

• Registration
• Cooperative responsibilities, benefits, and patronage
• Internal control and governance
• Formulation of plans and policies

Embedded in her work with cooperatives is a theme of supporting women and youth. Women in Services and Enterprise (WISE) is one example of a project she helped to bring to her cooperative to provide training for women in business and marketing to improve their economy.With youth, Joy developed a program to educate children on budgeting and savings. She also created a small corner in the PEMPC office for children accompanying adult members of the coop to read and play while members were transacting business.

The award was formally announced at the 2022 Cooperative IMPACT Conference on October 6, 2022. The recording can be viewed here. Congratulations Joy!