Nanette Medved is a film actress, TV host, model, philanthropist, and business person in the Philippines. She is the founder of Generation Hope Inc. and Friends of Hope Inc. which produces consumer goods. Profits from the "Hope" line of products are devoted to improving both the public school education space as well as small holder farmer productivity through its agriculture interventions. Medved is also the founder of the Plastic Credit Exchange, Inc., a non-profit entity that offers businesses and consumers an easy and responsible way to be accountable for plastic. In 2017, she was honoured with a resolution passed by the Philippine House of Representatives, HR No. 1198, for being part of the Forbes list of Heroes of Philanthropy.
Personal life
Medved was born in the US state of Hawaii in 1971 to a Russian father and a Chinese mother. Her growing up years were spent traveling throughout Asia but she spent most of her primary and secondary education in Holy Family Academy in Angeles City, Philippines. She took courses in College of St. Benilde but opted to study abroad. She finally graduated with degrees in Finance and Entrepreneurship from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts in 1998. Medved married Christopher Po in South Africa in June 1999 and they have two children.
Entertainment career
Medved started her career as a commercial model in 1987. Shortly thereafter, she was signed with Viva Films where she remained under contract until she left to pursue studies in the US in 1996. Her first film under Viva had her co-star alongside Robin Padilla in "Sa Diyos Lang Ako Susuko" but she is most famously known for her role as Philippine super heroine "Darna". 25 films later Medved ended her film career co-starring with Fernando Poe Jr. in "Ang Dalubhasa". In 2002, Medved-Po announced that she would quit the entertainment industry to focus more on her advocacy work. Since then, the only times that she has appeared on Philippine TV is to speak about her passion projects.
Medved-Po is the founder and director of Generation Hope, the first B-corp certified social enterprise in the Philippines. It is a consumer goods company which produces Hope in a Bottle bottled water, found at thousands of retailers nationwide. All profits are donated to the nonprofit Friends of Hope, which Medved-Po also founded. Through their affiliate company, donations are invested to their partners in education and agriculture initiatives across the Philippines.
Friends of Hope
Friends of Hope uses the profits from GenerationHope to build public school classrooms in the Philippines. They work closely with the Department of Education to determine which areas are most in need through the adopt-a-school program. To date, 91 classrooms have been constructed for approximately 17,000 students, primarily in the state of Mindanao. More classrooms are set to be built in the coming years. Friends of HOPE is also leading a program in partnership with domestic processors and international brands to reinvigorate the coconut water value chain. This includes sourcing from smallholders and reinvesting in farming communities to improve the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of coconut farming in the Philippines. This Mindanao-based program will include multiple interventions such as replanting, trainings, introduction of intercrops, and increasing their market access.
Plastic Credit Exchange, Inc.
In 2019, Medved-Po founded the Plastic Credit Exchange, Inc., a non-profit entity that gives companies the chance to offset their plastic footprints by selling them Plastic Credits from co-processors. Apart from servicing organizations, this will also help consumers become cognizant of their plastic usage and address their personal impact on the environment by going Plastic Neutral, or if they wish, Plastic Negative. It is an efficient and environmentally sound step towards a circular economy, empowering both individuals and organizations to be accountable for the plastic that they put out into the environment.
Interview appearances
Medved-Po has appeared in several news and entertainment shows promoting her social enterprise, GenerationHope. She has also gone to shows explaining what plastic neutrality is and how she wishes to inspire more companies into having 0 plastic footprint. Some of these were broadcast in ABS-CBN News, CNN News, CNBC International TV, Managing Asia, and many others.
In an event by TedxADMU in April 2016, Medved-Po shared how she strikes a balance between profitability and philanthropy.
* In June 2018, she was also invited as a speaker in the Milken Institute's Breakthroughs in Philanthropy where she was recognized as one of the game-changers in social impact.
