Rev. Emmanuel C. Alparce is a Roman Catholic priest who holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of the Philippines at Los Baños. Father Noli, as he is fondly called, is executive director of his diocese’s Social Action Center, the arm of the Catholic Church in the Philippines that responds to social issues. He is also a member of the Technical Committee on Information, Education and Communication of the Department of Agriculture’s Biotechnology Program on Agriculture and Fisheries, and in 2001 was selected to participate in the International Visitor Program of the U.S. State Department to study biotechnology, agriculture and food safety in the United States. As a late vocation priest, he previously worked as a journalist/newspaper reporter and deputy chief of staff to a congressman. He loves to raise and breed dogs and birds and has the gift of a “green thumb.” He is a 2015 Global Leadership Fellow.