Dr. Chito B. Salazar is chosen as this year’s Hall of FAME awardee in recognition of his exemplary leadership at Phinma Education Holdings and his profound impact in uplifting the quality of education in the Philippines.
During his college days, Chito already demonstrated exceptional leadership skills in improving lives as the co-Founder of Tugon (an Ateneo College organization established to give aid and comfort to the marginalized members of society, particularly orphans), and as president for the Sangguinian.
Honing this throughout his career, Chito led Phinma Education Holdings to pursue its mission of improving lives by providing quality tertiary education mainly to students from low-income families. From PHINMA’s first school acquisition of Araullo University in 2004. It was able to scale and expand the business to 10 schools and over 126,000 students, including PHINMA’s first school in Indonesia with over 1,000 students.
As President and co-Founder of the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), a non-profit organization founded by the country’s top business leaders, Chito pushed for a revamp of the country’s Basic Education program to what is now known as the K-12 program–the most dramatic overhaul in the country’s education system in decades. Aside from the K-12 Program, PBEd continues with its programs to support teacher training and education through its “1000 Teachers Program” which was a brainchild of Chito.
He is currently a board member of the Management Association of the Philippines, the Philippine Statistical Research and Training Institute, the PHILAM Asset Management, Inc.; and the Vice Chairman of the Philippine Press Council.
Chito graduated with a degree in Management Engineering (Honorable Mention) in 1987, and a doctorate in International Relations, Major in International Development and Development Management at the School of International Service, The American University, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. He is a former lecturer and Associate Professor at the Ateneo de Manila University and is currently the Vice Chair of the Ateneo Board of Trustees.
By Chito Salazar
