Pru Life UK and British government co-funds 4th Chevening scholarship

Leading life insurer, Pru Life UK co-funds its 4th Filipino Chevening scholar with British Embassy Manila, on its 4th year of partnership for the Chevening Scholarship Program.

Virtual Meet and Greet Ceremony Event organized by Pru Life UK’s Government Relations and the Chevening Scholarship team in the United Kingdom for Prudential business unit representatives to get acquainted with their respective Prudential Chevening Scholars for AY (2020-2021). From upper left: Gizelle Camua, Pru Life UK Vice President and Head of Corporate Affairs; Maricel Estavillo, Pru Life UK Vice President for Government Relations, Atty. Emeren Vallente, Pru Life UK Senior Vice President and Chief Legal and Government Relations. From lower left: Soysouvanh Ketsana, Prudential Laos’ Chevening Scholar; Marielle Bordado, Pru Life UK’s Chevening Scholar, and Allan Tumbaga, Pru Life UK Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Marketing Officer.

Chevening is a scholarship and fellowship program under the UK government which aims to develop global leaders and has long been enabling Filipino scholars to study in the UK.

Marielle Bordado, a Communications Officer at Philippine Development Foundation (PhilDev), who has been in the development sector for almost 10 years, is the latest Pru Life UK Chevening Scholar. This was announced during the virtual send-off party organized by the British Embassy Manila attended by Marielle and other scholars, as well as representatives of Pru Life UK and the British government in the Philippines.

Bordado will be taking a Media, Communication, and Development Course at the London School of Economics and Political Science for one year. The scholarship will cover expenses such as university tuition fees, monthly stipends, allowances package, as well as travel costs to and from the UK.

Brought up by parents who had been working in the government and development sector, Bordado believes in continuous learning and the impact of storytelling in changing the values of our society. She is an active member of the local startup scene who aims to contribute to social enterprises by focusing on innovation, education, and entrepreneurship.

“I would like to thank Pru Life UK and the people behind the Chevening Scholarship for this opportunity, I assure you that this will materialize into something impactful. I will strive to benefit more people with what I’ll be learning,” shares Bordado.

“I am looking into a life-changing experience with the Chevening scholarship, now more than ever because of the global pandemic. I expect to do a lot of learning and some traveling when the quarantine restriction eases. When I go back after the graduate program, I plan to create a knowledge management project that can help start-ups especially social enterprises in bridging the gap on the use of communication, marketing, and digital storytelling,” added Bordado.

“Chevening has helped many professionals pursue quality education and build international networks and relationships. Taking part in this brings us closer to our goal of promoting financial literacy in influential sectors of society,” says Pru Life UK Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Marketing Officer Allan Tumbaga.

Pru Life UK is the first and only life insurance company in the Philippines that actively contributes to the development of some of the country’s brightest and most aspiring young professionals in the fields of education and finance journalism, championing the company’s advocacy of financial literacy.

Since 2018, Pru Life UK has been a partner of the British Embassy Manila for the Chevening Scholarship Program, which allows young Filipino professionals to take up a one-year Master’s degree program in the UK. During the first two years of its support for Chevening, Pru Life UK has been a partner of the British Embassy Manila through Prudence Foundation, the community investment arm of Prudential in Asia and Africa. The partnership has previously sent three scholars to study in the UK, one of which is an award-winning Cha-Ching public school teacher.