In 2003, the seeds of a promising new approach to peace and development in troubled communities began to take root in the Philippines, with a special focus on healing divides in conflict-ravaged Mindanao. The work of Synergos in developing regions such as Mindanao has revealed that the most serious problems faced by many communities are the result of deep societal divides -- religious, cultural, economic and political. Often, these problems are too complex to be resolved by any one party alone. That is why Synergos and its partners around the globe have been working in recent years to develop the concept of “bridging leadership,” a method of building common ground among diverse stakeholders in a way that fosters trust and stimulates collective action for the good of the community.

“Bridging leaders” have always existed, but they have not been recognized or studied, nor have their skills been taught and given a chance to be replicated. Now, a series of developments with our partners in the Philippines has created a historic opening to study, test and apply the bridging model in academia and in communities in Mindanao divided by conflict for decades.

Advancing a new model of leadership

With the support of Mirant Philippines, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) has established the first-of-its-kind AIM-Mirant Center for Bridging Societal Divides to further refine the bridging methodology and promote the development of a pool of bridging leaders in Asia and beyond the region. Mirant is a global energy company, and Mirant Philippines is one of the largest foreign investors in the Philippines. AIM is the premier graduate business school in Southeast Asia and is well-situated to advance bridging leadership through its role in training business and NGO leaders, its case study approach to teaching, and its efforts in convening across sectors. Ernesto Garilao, director of the new AIM-Mirant Center, who previously held positions as the Secretary of Agrarian Reform and head of Philippine Business for Social Progress, is himself a bridging leader, able to speak the language of business, government and the nonprofit sector.

Garilao and Corazon “Dinky” Juliano-Soliman, a leading community organizer prior to becoming Secretary of Social Welfare and Development in the first and second administrations of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, were early partners in Synergos’ global network of organizations working on bridging leadership.

Against a backdrop of events including the Marcos dictatorship and conflict in Mindanao, Garilao and Juliano-Soliman were strong advocates for the value of intersectoral collaboration in addressing the more intractable issues confronting Filipino society.

Under Garilao’s leadership, AIM developed 16 case studies highlighting success ful bridging leaders, shared them with the network convened by Synergos, and integrated them into AIM’s graduate management and executive education curriculum. Garilao estimates that several hundred individuals have received training through AIM’s bridging leadership courses.

Addressing the legacy of conflict in Mindanao

In providing the endowment for AIM’s new center, Mirant Philippines, which is active in support of Mindanao through its corporate social responsibility efforts, has found a good vehicle for its community investment in the region.

“One of the priorities of Mirant Philippines is to help develop leaders, especially non-traditional leaders, and we were searching for programs that would enable us to do this. The bridging leadership program seemed to fit that model,” said Roberto Calingo, executive director of the Mirant Philippines Foundation, who noted that he became familiar with the bridging methodology through his work as a Synergos Senior Fellow. A primary focus of the AIM-Mirant Center will be to apply the experience gained on bridging leadership to the communities of Mindanao, where years of violent conflict and governmental neglect have yielded a bitter harvest.

At 63 percent, the poverty rate in the area where Muslims are the majority, known as the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), is almost twice the national average; life expectancy is ten years lower than in other parts of the Philippines; and spending on health care for residents of the region is less than half of what is spent elsewhere in the country.

The persistent civil unrest that has disrupted life in Mindanao for more than three decades stems in large part from the wide-scale government-led migration of settlers -- mostly Christian -- from the more densely populated islands of the country to the fertile agricultural lands of Mindanao.

The resulting disputes over land, political autonomy, and cultural and religious traditions ser ved to further marginalize Mindanao’s indigenous Muslim population and fueled the rise of various rebel groups fighting to achieve an independent Islamic state. One of these, the Moro National Liberation Front, reached a peace agreement with the government in 1996, establishing limited Islamic self-rule in southern provinces known collectively as ARMM; however, the underlying causes of conflict remain to be resolved in many communities.

An Opening for Dialogue and Change

Viewed from the outside, these divides often seem irreparable. Nevertheless, evidence is accumulating of a growing willingness of key players in the divided communities of Mindanao to enter into a dialogue around common goals of peace, social justice and development.

“The predisposition for collaborative work is there. People are tired and have accepted that this can’t go on forever. They want to have peace and prosperity in their own lifetimes,” said Garilao, based on his work with AIM in the southern provinces. As an example, Garilao noted that in October 2003 AIM held its first training course on bridging leadership in Davao, Mindanao, which brought together militar y field commanders, Catholic and Muslim religious leaders, former guerrillas, local government officials, and Muslim community leaders to identify the issues that serve as barriers to change in their communities.

Through guided dialogue and the sharing of case studies highlighting successful bridging leaders from their region (see box on Datu Paglas), participants formulated action plans to address these divides in their respective communities. “I have learned from my travels that the concept of bridging leadership is already taking hold in the barangays of Mindanao,” said Synergos chair Peggy Dulany, who met recent graduates of the AIM training course there who proudly identified themselves as bridging leaders.

Expanding the reach of bridging leadership

Meanwhile, bridging leadership is also catching on with civil society leaders in the Philippines, who are learning of its potential as a valuable tool for effecting social and economic change. One of these is Marissa Socorro Camacho-Reyes, a Synergos Senior Fellow who was instrumental in creating “peace bonds,” an ingenious funding mechanism that has raised more than $20 million from the capital market for an endowment fund for the poverty alleviation projects of a range of civil society organizations.

Reyes, President of the Philippine Center for Population and Development, who took part in one of AIM’s bridging leadership courses, says she was so inspired by the case studies that she plans to partner with another Senior Fellow from the Philippines, Eugene Gonzalez, to put together a venture enterprise in Muslim Mindanao.

“I was convinced that economic development that benefits the poor is the key to long-lasting peace in Mindanao. With my experience with the peace bonds, I think I can contribute towards raising venture funds to invest in enterprises that will bring regular income to the residents of Mindanao. We plan to use the bridging leadership methodology as a critical tool for bringing the various sectors together,” said Reyes. To carry their existing partnership one step further, AIM and Synergos will be working with six NGOs active in peace and rehabilitation in Muslim Mindanao to apply the bridging model and build multistakeholder partnerships in 12 municipalities in ARMM over the next three years. Other people and organizations that Synergos works with are providing strategic support for the effort, including Rina Lopez, a Global Philanthropists Circle member whose Knowledge Channel Foundation is building a network of educational television programming throughout the country. The foundation has already wired a number of schools in ARMM and has committed to securing investors to expand the reach of the program to as many children as possible in this neglected southernmost part of the country. The Knowledge Channel also plans to produce and broadcast shows about the impact of bridging on the lives of communities in the region.

With the assistance of Synergos, AIM is looking at ways not just to expand bridging leadership within the region but to move it around the world. “Synergos is able to bring into the partnership expertise about what is happening outside of Southeast Asia -- it plays the role of a connector that facilitates the movement of knowledge and expertise,” said Garilao.

Looking to the future, AIM is continuing to research and update bridging leadership methodology and has begun to train other regional institutions, including the Asian Development Bank, to do their own training in bridging leadership. “We want to be a resource center for other institutions. The more we’re able to institutionalize bridging leadership among the different sectors, so much the better,” said Garilao. The case study of Datu Paglas, developed by AIM and the Philippine Business for Social Progress for use in its bridging leadership training, highlights the potential of dynamic leaders to effect transformative change in divided communities.