Prof. Jay Bernardo completed his B.S in Industrial Management Engineering at the De La Salle University. He started his career at Johnson & Johnson as a production supervisor, and later took on the role of industrial engineer in charge of company-wide cost reduction, productivity improvement and employee involvement programs.
In 1991, he pursued his MBA at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) where he graduated with distinction. He then ventured into his own business putting up a company called JAD. What started out as a manufacturer of plastic sticks used for cotton buds expanded to be known as the JAD Group of Companies (JADGC), a conglomerate of strategically aligned outsourcing businesses in manufacturing, logistics, distribution, research and development, information technology, human resources, brokerage and freight forwarding. Among the major clients that have entrusted their requirements to the company are: Johnson & Johnson; Pfizer; Warner Lambert and Sara Lee.
As testaments to Prof. Bernardo’s passion for excellence are international and local awards such as:
2005 Outstanding Leadership in the Field of Business Creativity and Entrepreneurship
(Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education - USA)
The 2004 Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP)
(Junior Chamber International)
The 2003 Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM) in the Field of Entrepreneurship
(Philippine Jaycees)
The 2002 Agora Award for Outstanding Achievement in Entrepreneurship
(Philippine Marketing Association)
The Honor and Prestige Award
(Asian Institute of Management)
In just ten years of operation, JADGC was awarded the following:
The 2005 Parangal ng Bayan Award (Pride of the Nation)
(Parangal ng Bayan Foundation)
The 2002 Personnel Program of the Year - “Employee to Entrepreneur” Program
(Personnel Management Association of the Philippines)
The 2002, 2003 and 2004 Outstanding Healthy Workplaces in the Philippines
(Department of Health)
The 2002, 2003 and 2004 Business Excellence Award
(Sara Lee Direct Selling Philippines)
The 2002 Logistics Contractor of the Year
(Johnson and Johnson Phils., Inc.)
The Pinnacle Quality Award
(Procter and Gamble)
Prof. Jay was also a professor at the Graduate School of Business and the Asian Center for Entrepreneurship at AIM and developed courses and programs, such as Venture Into Entrepreneurship, Establishing and Running a Venture Enterprise, New Product and Service Development and Entrepreneurship in Asia.
With a reputation for converting small businesses into professionally-run organizations along with his commitment for utilizing entrepreneurship education to uplift the economic situation of the Philippines, he founded the LET’S GO (Leading Entrepreneurs Towards Seizing Global Opportunities) Foundation, a non-stock, non-profit organization that aims to create more entrepreneurs in the country. The foundation has won the 2004 World Bank’s 1st Philippine Development Innovation Marketplace competition and the 2005 Junior Chamber International Philippines’ Best Business Plan competition for its project of producing video modules to aid in teaching entrepreneurship in schools. Professor Jay was also engaged in the co-management of a television show entitled “EntrePinoy” geared to inspire and educate more people on entrepreneurship, which won the Catholic Mass Media Award’s 2004 Best Business Show. Today, he is working closely with the Department of Education and the International Labor Organization in designing and institutionalizing entrepreneurship education in the high school level.
His success stories merited the publication of AIM cases and have been featured in several business magazines and newspapers. He is constantly invited to keynote several events on leadership and entrepreneurship such as the 2001 APEC Symposium and was the only Filipino speaker at the APEC international Business Forum in the Sphere of Innovative Entrepreneurship workshop held in Moscow, Russia. Asked whether he has achieved success, he replies, “It is not how much you accumulate but how much you contribute. Thus I will continue to find bigger and bolder ways to be a blessing to other people’s lives.”