Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS) Inc.

IDIS Staff

Judy Ann E Legaspi

JUDY ANN ENRIQUEZ LEGASPI

Watershed Network Organizer / Assistant Program Coordinator

When asked about her most memorable experience in her seven years working with IDIS, Joy giggly answered “having found my partner in life”. She started her engagement with IDIS as a Community Forestry Coordinator for the Upscaling Community Action and Response for the Protection of Panigan-Tamugan and Talomo-Lipadas Watersheds project where she worked with the Bantay Bukids of Mt. Tipolog, one of whom eventually became her husband. She coordinated efforts to strengthen capacities and mobilize upland communities for rainforestation and sustainable management of watersheds, with IDIS ending up as one of the top-performing partners among the 8 sub-grantees of the USAID-FPE funded project.

She brings to IDIS 7 years’ experience in community organizing, natural resources management and capacity building handling numerous projects with farmer communities including Sustainable Development and Environmental Care in Rural Communities Prioritizing Indigenous Peoples, Strengthening Partnership for Poverty Reduction, Upscaling Barangay and Marketing in Davao City and Katawhan ug Kinaiyahan Program for Josefa Segovia Foundation.

With her sons named “Forest” and “River”, Joy’s life is evidently intricately connected to the environment. It is no surprise then that she joined IDIS, the only NGO focusing in sustainable management of watersheds in Davao. Born and raised in a small village of Saloy in Calinan district to farmer parents, she grew up listening to their stories recounting the forest’s abundance teeming with wild animals and the soil being so fertile that there was no need for chemical fertilizers. She also loves the water and enjoyed swimming among the carabaos in the river with her friends. The river was also where she and her siblings bonded with their mother as they do laundry and eat together while waiting for clothes to dry.

She would love to share these experiences to her children and wishes that they too could experience the same. She is now the Watershed Network Organizer of IDIS, linking the organization to numerous upland community partners who serve as forest guards and water monitoring volunteers. She also helps IDIS’ Advocacy Team as the Assistant Program Coordinator. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture Technology from Rizal Memorial Colleges.