Butch Meily, an influential figure in disaster resilience and entrepreneurship, is set to release his memoir, “From Manila to Wall Street – An Immigrant’s Journey With America’s First Black Tycoon.” Known for his prolific writing, Meily has contributed to esteemed publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News, Black Enterprise magazine, and the Philippine Star newspaper. He has also conducted two successful book tours promoting his former employer’s biography, “Why Should White Guys Have All The Fun?”
Currently, Meily serves as the President of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), a pioneering private sector disaster management organization that collaborates with major business groups in the Philippines. As one of its founders, Meily has transformed PDRF into a global benchmark for private sector engagement in disaster response. Notably, PDRF houses the world’s only national private sector Emergency Operations Center. Under the aegis of Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT), his parent company, PDRF earned the 2016 Prince of Wales Business in Community UPS International Disaster Relief Prize for its exemplary work following Typhoon Ketsana in 2009 and Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.
Meily’s experience extends to conflict zones in the southern Philippines, where he navigated challenging situations during a terrorist siege in 2013 and an ISIS-inspired rebellion in 2017.
Beyond disaster management, Meily is a key player in the startup ecosystem. He leads IdeaSpace Foundation, a technology accelerator focused on early-stage startups, and QBO Innovation Hub, a public-private initiative aimed at mentoring new businesses. Until December 2020, he was the president of Pacific Global One, an aviation firm linked to PLDT.
Earlier in his career, Meily held the position of First Vice President and Special Assistant to the chairman of PLDT and was president of PLDT Smart Foundation. Before joining PLDT, he was Vice President of Communications for TLC Beatrice International, a New York and Paris-based food company featured prominently in his upcoming book. His career in New York included roles at various public relations firms and a financial startup.
Meily is an alumnus of Ateneo de Manila University and earned his MA in Journalism and Communications from the University of Florida (UF), where he was the program’s first honors graduate. He later returned to UF as a Freedom Forum Distinguished Professor and was honored with a Distinguished Alumnus award. Although he began an MBA at Northwestern University, he did not complete it. He has also taken writing classes at Grub Street and New York University’s Continuing Education Program.
In 1997, Meily established a permanent scholarship at Ateneo in honor of his father, Joe Meily, and made a donation to the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications.
