For her remarkable achievements, Converge ICT Solutions President and Co-Founder Maria Grace Uy was recognized during the Inquirer Women of Power Awards which celebrates female leaders who made tangible impact in their communities and inspired contributions in their respective fields.
Organized by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the nominations were made by the publication’s senior editors and the final winners were determined based on professional achievements, contributions to innovation and creativity, effective mentorship or empowerment through education, community impact as champion of the environment and sustainability, promotion of inclusivity and diversity, change management or crisis resolution, and pioneering work in tech or digital spaces.
“Malasakit is deeply ingrained in the lives of the women that are here tonight. If you hear their stories, you will see that they have actually helped women advance in their careers, giving them a hand up. You will see that they actually celebrated the successes of people they’ve mentored and have acknowledged those that have mentored them,” said CEO of the Inquirer Group of Companies, Sandy Prieto-Romualdez.
Uy has been widely recognized for her leadership at Converge, breaking the glass ceiling in the male-dominated ICT sector. She has also led the way into giving a stronger voice to female leaders and developing more women leaders at Converge through a women mentorship program.
“As we celebrate women’s month, may we all be reminded of our victories – big and small. I commend all women who are making waves of change whichever industry they are in; may all these women continue to speak up and make their voices heard,” said Grace Y. Uy.
“I’m grateful to receive this award on behalf of all the women in Converge who make significant changes to make the company what it is today,” she added.
Now in its second year, the Inquirer defined power as “not only positions of high authority or clout in our society, but a broad measure of one’s empowering actions or influence in organizations, niches or entire sectors.”
Uy joins other well-respected honorees this year, including Magsaysay Group of Companies President and CEO Doris Magsaysay-Ho, Lisset Laus-Velasco of the Laus Group of Companies, Artists Movement Founder Mae “Juana Change” Paner, renowned chef Margarita Araneta Fores, and Negrense Volunteers for Change CEO Millie Kilayko.
As the co-pilot of CEO Dennis Anthony Uy, Grace steered Converge through another trailblazing year as the company introduced Surf2Sawa and BIDA fiber in 2023. Staying true to their mantra to leave no one behind, Grace and Dennis aimed to effectively widen internet access to the lower C and D market, estimated at 17 million low-income households.
Under Grace’s watch, Converge made the crucial pivot in 2023 to more value-added services, introducing entertainment streaming service through BlastTV while, at the same time, pushing hard on its own offering of Converge Vision for a broader entertainment package for consumers.
Again feeling the pulse of what customers need, Converge also widened the solutions it can offer to MSMEs as it introduced a Workplace solution for Hospitality. It also began offering network managed services as it rolled out connectivity in the Philippines transport gateways like NAIA Terminal 3 and 4.
On the same page as Dennis on technology, Grace also enabled the company to optimize network operations, paving the way for artificial intelligence to inform network management and troubleshooting through a multi-award-winning technology platform.
As Converge gears up for more innovation-driven developments in 2024, it will continue to rely on the strategic decision-making and sound leadership of Grace Uy.
Today, Converge stands as the country’s only pure-play fixed broadband provider, operating the country’s largest fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network with over 7.9 million ports nationwide and an extensive 685,000-kilometer fiber backbone.This network now reaches 16.7 million homes, covering 62.9 percent of the Philippine population.