Name: PJ L. Manalo
Age: 28
Country: Republic of the Philippines
Relationship to WYA: Philippine National Committe Director, volunteer since 2005
Describe your WYA experience:
Volunteering for WYA has led to such a wide range of opportunities, challenges, and meaningful experiences for me. WYA gave me an avenue through which I could develop and apply my skills in all sorts of fields (writing, speaking, graphic design, etc.). It has challenged the way I think and expanded my knowledge, and helped me engage others in spirited exchanges of ideas through the training program. I have been given the distinct pleasure of getting to know and to work with a diverse group of people from all over the world — interns, WYA friends and staff, etc. — who share in WYA´s values and contribute in their own distinct ways to WYA´s mission.
How do you carry on the mission of WYA today?
I am currently taking my postgraduate degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and am currently involved in the Organizational Development consultancy practice of the Human Resources company I work with. Through my studies and the work I have been doing, I am able to work with groups and organizations (in the private, public, and NGO sectors) on how they can help improve the way they work and strive to meet their goals. At the center of all that is a fundamental appreciation that good work is a creative expression of our human dignity, and that the human person, as the single greatest resource we have in the world, must be developed in all ways, always.
