Dinky ‘Corazon’ Soliman’s background is in community organizing and people’s empowerment, both in the Philippines and around the world. She has served as Chair of the Caucus for Development NGO Networks, as the National Secretariat Coordinator of the Congress for People’s Agrarian Reform and, most recently, as Executive Director of the Community Organization Training and Research Advocacy Institute (CO-TRAIN), a non-governmental organization committed to enhancing knowledge and capabilities of community organizers. She has worked extensively on community development, peace and conflict resolution, gender and human rights, and innovative funding approaches.

Her experience within the Filipino Civil Society led her to serve as Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III administrations. While in government, she pushed for policies and practices that were more focused on local empowerment and community voice, as well as more holistic approaches by government. These efforts touched on a wide range of aspects of development, including health, education, disaster response, poverty reduction, livelihoods, and social protection. Among her innovations in government were a national household targeting system, which identifies who and where the poor are in the country and helped determine which social interventions best suited their needs.

Today, Dinky continues to champion and consult on people-focused development, both in the Philippines and internationally. She is a member of the Synergos board of directors. She holds degrees from the University of the Philippines and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.