Isabelle Gotianun Yap

Finance and business run deep in Isabelle Gotianun Yap’s blood, an aspiring executive at EastWest Bank, the banking arm of family-run Filinvest Development Corp.

Recently named one of the Switzerland-based World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 100 new Young Global Leaders (YGL), 34-year-old Isabelle is on a mission to make a big impact within the group and potentially beyond.

Mentored by her grandmother, Mercedes Gotianun, the county’s first female universal bank president, and her mother, Filinvest Group President, Lourdes Josephine Gotianun Yap, Isabelle was never short of role models.

“I was introduced to management at an early age by my grandmother and mother in our family business,” EastWest Inquirer’s chief executive and vice president said in an email.

“Having these great role models, I always knew I wanted to be in our family business, to solve big problems and make a difference in the world,” she adds.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration with a dual major in finance and marketing from Singapore Management University. She also has a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Isabelle is a former consultant at McKinsey, where she honed her critical thinking and problem-solving skills while serving a variety of clients across the country.

She was also part of the Management Associate program of industry giant Singapore Telecommunications, where she gained valuable experience in digital marketing, product development and project management. “While making an impact around the world has brought me fulfillment, I wanted to bring the impact closer to home. So I went back to the family business,” says Isabelle.

“At EastWest, my work is really focused on building and launching these strategic and transformative initiatives for the organization. I hope to make a lasting impact here, much like the strong female role models I grew up with made in their own time,” she adds.

As part of the next generation of the family, Isabelle brings a fresh and digitally-focused perspective to Filinvest Group, which was founded 68 years ago by her grandparents, the late Taipan Andrew Gotianun Sr. and his wife Mercedes. The $1 billion group’s portfolio includes real estate, banking, sugar manufacturing, energy and infrastructure.

venture builder

Within parent company Filinvest Development, Isabelle chairs the digital venture builder and transformation arm F(Dev), which she helped build.

“Our mission is twofold: first, to serve and empower underserved communities and transform industries through technology-enabled business models; and second, to enable the Filinvest family to be ready for a digitally-enabled future,” she says.

Some of the group’s projects are likely to be familiar to companies today.

Among them is Investree Philippines, the very first registered crowdfunding platform in the Philippines. The crowdfunding firm, a joint venture with Investree Indonesia, aims to bridge the fundraising gap to serve the large number of small and medium-sized businesses.

Isabelle says that F(Dev) is also leading digital business transformation within the conglomerate.

At EastWest, she is credited with leading the development of Komo, one of the country’s first fully digital banking services, which launched in August 2020 amid the COIVD-19 pandemic.

“Komo was created to give Filipinos more control and flexibility in managing their money. Komo stands for kontrol mo (your control). We wanted to make our customers’ lives easier by offering convenient, safe and reliable services,” says Isabell.

Being one of the earliest fully digital services on the market, she envisions the plan to “really continue to be at the forefront when it comes to developing and driving our products and services along with our processes for our customers improve”.

Komo is also successful because of the team of dedicated professionals who helped bring the project to life, says Isabelle.

“Today’s Komo team has a broad background – fintech, banking, telecom to name a few, but all have a digital background and an attitude to push boundaries,” she says.

“This diversity of experiences allows us to consistently challenge the status quo for a better product for our customers, the Komounity,” she adds.

YGL class of 2023

Isabelle is one of the two Filipinas to make it to the YGL class of 2023. The other is Natashya Gutierrez, who lives in Australia and is the Asia Pacific Editor-in-Chief at Vice News.

The WEF describes Natashya as “an experienced multimedia journalist with a proven track record in the online media industry”. Experienced in digital reporting, editorial, management, investigative journalism and content strategy, she previously worked at online news platform Rappler.

She is “particularly knowledgeable in Southeast Asia, covering women’s rights, politics, corruption and breaking news,” says the WEF.

The YGLs Forum intends to accelerate the impact of a diverse community of responsible leaders across borders and sectors to shape a more inclusive and sustainable future.

Only six new YGLs are based in Southeast Asia, including Isabelle.

“From brave journalists exposing the most critical political and human rights issues of our time, to savvy entrepreneurs transforming the way we work with technology, this year’s course is packed with brilliant minds and passionate leaders from business, civil society, Science and government,” he tells the WEF. INQ

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