For decades, millions of Filipinos have been denied access to quality education. Clarissa Delgado made it her life’s mission to uplift the lives of the less fortunate in the Philippines as she co-founded Teach for the Philippines, a nonprofit organisation that works to ensure all Filipino children can benefit from an excellent, inclusive, and relevant education. “I work every day for a future wherein every child in our country—no matter whom they were born to or where—can access an excellent education,” she once told Tatler.

Working with the Department of Education, Teach for the Philippines has created programs that recruit, train, and develop teachers, community leaders, and education advocates who can spark change in public schools and in policy. Of their graduates, around 75 per cent continue on to work in education reform, while around 40 per cent work with the Philippine government.

Delgado—who graduated from the College of William and Mary in Virginia in 2009 and completed her Master’s Degree in Education at Ateneo de Manila University in 2018 is also a fellow of the Obama Foundation.