Filipina wins prestigious global award

By Conrad M. Cariño

October 3, 2022

DALAREICH Polot became the first Filipina to receive the Goldman Sachs/Fortune Most Powerful Women Global Award.

The 34-year-old from Bohol, known as "Bohol's Chocolate Princess," told The Manila Times she learned over the weekend that she has been chosen for the award along with an Egyptian woman.

"I didn't... expect that they would choose me because I'm competing with other graduates from different countries," she said.

Polot was referring to the Goldman Sachs 10,000 women program that aims to empower women entrepreneurs globally. She is one of the 200 Filipinas who have benefited from the program, having been part of its 2011 alumni.

She said the program was handled in the Philippines by the University of Asia and the Pacific (UAP), and she was one of the last five who attended the program.

"I am extremely honored to be the first Filipina to be conferred this prestigious award at 'Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit' in California in the next few days," she said in a post in her Facebook page.

"They (UAP) sent me an application in the last week of August where you can write your 'Pay it Forward' project for your chosen community. In the Philippines, only me was given an application form," she added.

Polot will fly to California this week to receive the award, which includes a dollar-based grant for her project.

"I'm also eager to listen and network with women leaders and CEOs that I will meet during the summit. I'm so looking forward to engaging with women leaders who will be at the event which includes Melinda Gates, US government women representatives from different states, women CEOs from Fortune 500 companies network and many other amazing women who I usually just read in books or watched on TV," she said.

Polot helped communities in Bohol that were ravaged by Typhoon "Odette" late last year. Bohol was one of the areas that bore the storm's brunt.

"My parents even cried [after learning of the award] because they know I'm always outside the house since the typhoon doing many things in faraway towns and even didn't put [those efforts] on social media," she said.

She admitted getting tired at times, "but I can't just watch the people without homes and having lost their livelihood."

Polot co-founded Dalareich Food Products and started Ginto Chocolates, which produces artisanal chocolate products and helps cacao farmers in Bohol produce quality raw materials.