Pacita “Chit” Juan

Pacita “Chit” Juan is a social entrepreneur, green advocate, coffee crusader and advocate for women’s empowerment through business. She has been an entrepreneur most of her life, founding start-ups such as a coffee shop chain, a Filipino casual food chain, a farm to table restaurant, and a natural and organic store called ECHOstore, which now has nine branches in its tenth year.

She is the Southeast Asia councilor of Slow Food International and regional coordinator of International Women’s Coffee Alliance. She is the president and co-chair of the Philippine Coffee Board Inc.

Chit received many awards, including Asia Pacific CSR Council’s CEO of the Year in 2018, Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011 for social enterprise, Social Entrepreneur of the Year by GO Negosyo, and the Bossing award by PLDT and Smart.

With her experience and expertise, Chit often speaks at international fora such as the Global Summit of Women, APEC meetings, and in many conferences on various topics such as sustainability, women’s empowerment and coffee. She is also a prolific writer, having shared her expertise in several books, as well as in regular columns for various online and print publications in the Philippines.