Lead to Inspire and Empower

What made you choose to take up a leadership position in this department?

Honestly, I did not see myself taking up a leadership position nor having this much involvement with the organization this year. During AVP application season, I was thinking of applying for a position under another department but I eventually decided not to push through because of self-doubt. Little did I know that I would find myself presented with another opportunity in the organization. When the position of AVP for Community Engagement under the Office of the President (OOTP) was offered to me, I had a lot of apprehensions. Other than the position being new and the high expectations people had for the OOTP, I had still felt that I lacked skills and experience that would meet the criteria for this position. However, I took this as a sign for me to achieve two of my personal goals: to gain more self-confidence and create impact through any means. I was intrigued by the position as it oversees the creation and development of various initiatives within the organization and provides leadership opportunities for the members. Just like leaders at times, I kept questioning what the members of the organization saw in me to be qualified for this position. But ultimately, they inspired my decision to pursue it and serve an organization I consider home.

First Meeting with OOTP Mothers, Ange and Chels <3

What makes your department special/stand out from the others?

The Office of the President (OOTP) provides guidance and assistance for the members in various ways and assures that projects and initiatives are well-aligned with our core competency, Integrated Marketing Communications. Besides such, we prioritize the experience of our members, ensuring that everything pursued will be of value to them as IMC leaders. We see the inside and outside of the organization in hopes that the home and business aspects are exemplified for our members. A notable change this year was the transfer of the Batch and Block Representatives to the department, which helped in providing more support towards academic and other university concerns of CTM majors. Think of the OOTP as the control center of the organization that is able to see its processes and systems internally and externally!

Department Bonding Session

Are there any activities, initiatives, or events that your department has held so far in this school year?

There were many initiatives and activities that were catered towards the members of the organization this year. At the beginning of the school year, the OOTP were the proponents of COA RecWeek as we welcomed our new and old members to ACTM. Throughout the year, there were multiple EB/EC/LC Meetings and ACTM Town Halls to ensure progress with our projects, and to inform the members on current changes and efforts being made to meet their needs in both home and business aspects. Kuwentuhan N Other Things Sessions (KNOTS) with Members, Anonymous Drop Boxes, and the Kudos Wall on the ACTM Work Server helped in building an environment where the members can feel that their voices were heard and recognize the hard work they put into the projects and initiatives. Routine Leader ICs, Leadership Roadmap & Motivation Guides, EvSem Week, Deputy Core Module, and Leadership Training in collaboration with Ateneo CODE helped with the leadership journeys of our student-leaders and improve our processes and systems within the organization. Under community engagement, we had two external initiatives: ACTM Headlines and SMile. Headed by Angel Martinez, ACTM Headlines provides members content that discusses the intersection of IMC with various topics, current events, and advocacies. SMile, on the other hand, was a video series led by Gabby Tamayo and Bianca Abella that discussed social media marketing amongst small businesses through the experiences of ACTM business owners. Other initiatives done under the department include the IMC Excellence Program and Siklab: Igniting the Spark of Filipino Youth Voters. In partnership with Smart Communications, the IMC Excellence Program allowed the members to apply their IMC skills through the culminating case challenge and talks from IMC Professionals. While the Siklab external initiative aimed to educate the audience on different issues and sectors in the Philippines for them to become a more informed voter in this year’s upcoming elections. Aside from these events and initiatives mentioned, we held multiple bonding sessions as a department to form relationships with each other outside of our org work.

SMile Onboarding with Gabby and Bianca

What unique learning opportunities can your department offer to its members?

In OOTP, there is so much you can learn about yourself in terms of leadership and hone your interpersonal skills. Whether as the president of the organization or a block representative, you are able to be of service to the members of ACTM in a small or wide scale. With hopes of being the leading IMC organization within and beyond the Ateneo, the department aspires to inspire its members to take the many opportunities presented to them and empower their abilities as IMC leaders.

---

Article Contributors:

Alexi Binay Content Creator

Guia Neri Creative Director