Today, 12 September 2020, we at Coffee for Peace, Inc. (CFP) received the humbling news that our co-founder and president, Felicitas “Joji” Bautista Pantoja, has been named one of this year’s Oslo Business for Peace Award Honourees. The Business for Peace Foundation in Oslo, Norway, confers this international recognition—often referred to as the “Nobel Prize for Business”—to global leaders who exemplify “businessworthy” values: creating economic success in ways that are ethical, inclusive, and socially transformative.
Alongside Joji, the 2020 laureates are Marc Benioff of Salesforce (United States) and Dr. James Mwangi of Equity Group Holdings (Kenya). To be recognized in this company of global changemakers is both an honour and a sacred responsibility.
A Celebration of Inclusive, Peace-Oriented Enterprise
The official citation reads:
“Felicitas Bautista Pantoja has dedicated her career to building peace in conflict zones and improving the lives of marginalized groups through economic stability. Based in the Philippines, Coffee for Peace uses coffee production as a tool to address the economic, environmental, and peace issues prevalent in conflict-affected communities.”
For Joji and for all of us in the CFP family, this recognition affirms more than twelve years of grassroots work. Since our founding in 2008, we have sought to integrate peacebuilding, economic justice, and environmental stewardship into a single, holistic enterprise.
From the highlands of Kalinga and Benguet in the North, to the mountains of Bukidnon, Davao del Sur, and Maguindanao in Mindanao, we have trained and partnered with hundreds of smallholder farmers—many from indigenous communities and conflict-affected areas—to become farmer-entrepreneurs.
These communities now cultivate and process coffee not merely as a livelihood, but as a peacebuilding platform—a way to foster dialogue between former adversaries, and to nurture cooperation across ethnic and religious lines.
The Heart of the Movement: Women and Farmers as Peacebuilders
This award especially honors the women who form the backbone of our work. In every community where Coffee for Peace operates, women comprise the majority of our trained farmer-partners. They are entrepreneurs, managers, and advocates of environmental and social transformation.
Joji often says, “Peace is not a theory we teach; it is a life we live.” She has embodied this conviction by ensuring that women and indigenous peoples are active decision-makers in every stage of the coffee value chain—from seedling to cup.
In this light, the Oslo recognition is not Joji’s alone—it belongs to the women and men who dared to believe that business can be a force for peace, that trade can be a tool for justice, and that sustainability begins with right relationships.
The Global Message: Business Can Be a Force for Peace
In a time when the world is facing deep social fractures, pandemics, and ecological crises, this award sends a clear message: peace and profit need not be in conflict.
The Oslo Business for Peace Foundation reminds the global business community that ethical leadership—what they call being “businessworthy”—is not a luxury but a necessity. It calls business leaders to pursue human dignity, fairness, and shared prosperity as seriously as they pursue growth and innovation.
For Coffee for Peace, this means deepening our commitment to our triple bottom line:
Profit — ensuring fair and sustainable livelihoods.
People — valuing relationships, justice, and human dignity.
Planet — protecting the land that sustains us.
Each of the 2020 Honourees transformed their businesses, industries and communities through positive change, inspiring other leaders to follow suit. Pantoja provided sustainable livelihoods for indigenous and migrant groups in rural areas, enabling over 880 farmers to escape poverty and build their coffee production capacity. Benioff established the ‘1-1-1 model,’ whereby a company contributes one percent of profits, equity, and employee hours back to the communities it serves. Mwangi enabled 96% of the unbanked population in Kenya opportunities for broader economic participation.
“In a world of various complexities such as globalisation, polarisation and environmental struggles, this year’s Honourees have led by using business as a tool for change. They are role models to society and their peers, have earned stakeholders’ trust, and stand out as advocates,” says Per Saxegaard, Founder of the Business for Peace Foundation. “Through their business activities they have made substantial contributions towards reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Goal 8: helping to achieve sustained, sustainable and inclusive growth and decent work for all.”
“With ten years left until we need to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and at a time when the world is looking for a clear direction, the Business for Peace Honourees show real leadership and the invaluable efforts from the business community,” says Raymond Johansen, Governing Mayor of Oslo. “I am proud that Oslo, for the twelfth year, is hosting the business community’s own award for ethical and sustainable business. It is an example of how to create value for both stakeholders and shareholders.”
