Marciano T. Virola, Jr., known as “Jun” to his friends, is a Business Advisor for Agriterra in the Philippines since September 2017. He has 20 years of experience working with farmers and their organizations in the Asian region. He is passionate about helping transform rural communities by professionalizing farmer organizations and agricultural cooperatives through advise, training and exchange. His skills and competencies include knowledge sharing, capacity building, networking and communication. He is a certified FACT international master trainer and has carried out several missions to several countries to support farmer organizations in improving their lobby and advocacy. He is also a My.Coop trainer and has been involved in co-facilitating trainings for leaders and staff on how to manage their agricultural cooperatives.
He studied Political Science at the University of the Philippines in Diliman and is now taking up online courses on topics of interest such as business, management and innovation. He is looking for new challenges and is excited about learning and working on new content, approaches and tools that can deliver results for farmer organizations and agricultural cooperatives. He is blessed with a wonderful wife and three rambunctious boys with whom he tries to spend as much time as he can.