The Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF) was established in 1992 by John Gokongwei Jr. and his brothers Henry, Johnson, and James, who all believed that education was key to national progress. Thirty-two years later, the foundation continues to honor their advocacy.
“My father always had a desire to make a difference, you can see it with the way he lived his life,” says GBF General Manager Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, the third child of John Gokongwei Jr.
Department of Education Secretary Sonny Angara with Lance Gokongwei, GBF Chairman and JG Summit President and CEO, and James Go, GBF President and JG Summit Chairman. IMAGE GBF
In 2023, as the foundation was wrapping up its year-long observance of its 30th anniversary, Gokongwei-Cheng commissioned business journalist Lala Rimando and filmmaker Troy Bernardo to create a documentary on Mr. John, as the founder of the Gokongwei Group was affectionately known.
The result, a 57-minute film entitled “A Boy, a Bicycle, and a Legacy: Remembering John Gokongwei Jr.”, is presented through the lens of the people he worked closely with and the beneficiaries of the foundation’s projects.
“I wish I had met him,” reflects Bernardo, the documentary’s creative director, sharing that it was an inspirational experience to get to know Mr. John, who died in November 2019, through the stories of others.
The film, the first of a tri-platform project about Mr. John’s legacy, premiered on August 14, 2024, at the Opus Mall in Pasig City. A book and podcasts on his life and business are slated for release in the coming years.
The Gokongwei Brothers Foundation takes pride in its various programs that have reached over 50,000 teachers, potentially impacting more than 1.5 million learners over the country. In its early years, GBF focused on scholarship programs, institutional endowments, and building its own technical training center to provide access to quality education for underprivileged youth. Of late, it has expanded to educators’ development programs with the belief that investing in educators will have a positive multiplier effect on student learning outcomes. GBF is also using edtech solutions to empower educators and learners to teach and study more effectively.
To view the full documentary, click on the image below or visit youtube.com/c/gokongweibrothersfoundation
To learn more about the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation’s various projects, visit gokongweibrothersfoundation.org/stories
