Project Page | News Post | Event page
The Knights of Rizal – Firenze Chapter (KOR-Firenze) launched the “Ilustrado Initiative”, a brand-new initiative aiming to improve the social mobility of the Filipino community of Tuscany through a series of awareness events and focused mentoring and coaching events and activities. Among the main goals of the initiative include:
- Encouragement to pursue higher education
- Increased financial literacy
- Greater awareness of various Italian and Filipino government support available
The initiative takes its inspiration from the Ilustrados or the historical Filipino intelligentsia and to which the Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal belonged to. Through greater awareness and better education, the Ilustrado class inspired the Filipinos to self determination and to aspire towards better conditions for their families and their country. At the same time the Ilustrados made a significant impact on the nascent Filipino nation and society following independence from Spain. This initiative aims to build a new class of Ilustrado for the modern day.
The Ilustrado Initiative hopes to create a network of successful Filipinos in Italy, exchange knowledge on pathways to success and share their knowledge to the Filipino community in Tuscany to inspire them towards a better life.
Career Orientation and Financial Literacy Workshop
A Career Orientation and Financial Literacy Workshop was held on 23 March 2025 organized by the Knights of Rizal – Firenze Chapter at the Circolo Del Bene in Firenze which saw the attendance of around 30 youths, parents and community leaders.
The event began with a welcome message from the Philippine Embassy in Italy H.E. Ambassador Nathaniel Imperial read by the organisers. This was followed by an introduction by the Chapter Commander Sir Rob Carrillo to the Ilustrado initiative which aims to create a new generation of Ilustrados that would uplift the Filipino-Italian community through advocating for higher education.
The Financial Literacy session was kicked off by Alexandra Medrano Ganzon who shared some insights on the importance of planning as a family and how to plan for short term, medium term and long term. She shared the course being offered by ALSE for social entrepreneurship and financial literacy for those wanting to pursue this further.
The participants then heard from Allianz Bank Senior Partner and Wealth Advisor Jacopo Vanzini on the available Italian financial vehicles that Filipino families can invest in starting from safer options such as bank deposits and bonds to higher risk instruments such as stocks.
This was then followed by the Career Orientation session where speakers from the various fields: medical – Dr. Zack Recaña, nursing – Chaira Enguio, marketing, consultancy, public sector – Rob Carrillo, ICT and entrepreneurship – Lou Marvin Caraig, professional coaching – Alexandra Ganzon, and research and engineering – Billy Rejuso. They shared some of the benefits of their field as well as some of the difficult parts of their career.
At the end, available scholarship and allowance opportunities from the DSU Toscana we’re discussed. Some of the maximum benefits that Filipino students can benefit from include full tuition scholarship for higher education, allowances to cover accommodation rental and support for board/food with criteria being primarily need and merit based. Several panellists shared their own personal experience benefiting from the scholarships.
The event ended with a networking lunch where the participants and speakers engaged with each other.
The project has now concluded.
