At Techie Seniors our primary social mission is to empower our members through digital literacy so they can create opportunities for themselves and have the fighting chance to live, learn and earn longer. The second problem that we want to address is the lack of preparation of employees for a productive or stable retirement life. Another problem is the lack of psychosocial support for senior citizens, which has a great impact on their wellbeing. It is evident that if we do not harness the power of technology to solve these problems, this will have negative consequences for our country.

Older people in general, Older people with chronic health conditions or disability, Older people with vulnerabilities, Both older and younger people

Education, Health, Information and Communication, Labour, Urban development

Government, Private Sector

Older people were consulted during the planning process

We invite or partner with private, government and academic institutions, which match our mission & vision of transforming the senior citizen sector to digital citizens, to increase the chance of approving our proposal. We are blessed and grateful that our partners believed or saw that what we are doing is important and provides social value. Some of our partners/sponsors from the Philippines are the Natl. Library of the Philippines, Natl. Museum of the PH, Concentrix, Canva, etc.

The most important lesson that our members became aware of is that, they will not be left behind because there is a community for Filipino senior citizens that teaches digital literacy for free so they can adapt to the modern/digital era. If a senior citizen is willing to learn on how to use these softwares or navigate the web, they can create opportunities for themselves to live, learn and earn longer, ultimately supporting themselves and (indirectly) their families. Learning something new never gets old. They can evolve, and truly experience what healthy aging means.

First issue that we faced was the lack of budget for the venue and food, this was solved by asking companies who believe in DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) efforts to sponsor our venue and food, luckily Canva supported us. Second issue, was being rejected by people, who can help us advance our cause/advocacy. We addressed this by not giving up and continue to stay positive/optimistic that we can find more institutions that are aligned to our social mission. Third, the founder needs social entrepreneurship training. She decided to join the free programs of Ashoka for women social entrepreneurs. Fourth, sustaining the community in its fifth year, we are trying to generate our own revenue by offering digital literacy courses/trainings to businesses

I/we learned that like climate change, aging affects everyone. Online campaigns are useless if their target audience doesn't know how to navigate the web or use their smartphone properly to receive the message. Retirement is not the end, but a chance to evolve or reach their unfulfilled dreams. Many senior citizens want to continue working, to earn and help their families. They are willing to learn.

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