CLARK FREEPORT – Beyond teaching people how to make coffee, bake bread, or create fine pastries, La Rose Noire Foundation grounds itself in something far more valuable: the belief that skills can open doors, restore dignity, and change the course of a life.
As the foundation marked its 10th anniversary on August 10 at the Clark Freeport Zone, Chef Gerard Dubois reflected on a decade defined by opportunity, perseverance, and the success stories of scholars who once had very few choices for their future.
“I am very happy and grateful to have 364 scholars graduate from the LRN Foundation,” Dubois said during the anniversary press conference at the foundation’s training center here, noting how many of them have fared fairly well in their respective careers.
The foundation provides training in barista skills, bread and pastry, with courses following the standards of EHL Food Service 101, referencing to the world’s first hotel school founded in 1893, the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne which has become the gold standard in hospitality management.
But the education does not end with the training. For LRN Foundation, graduation is not a finish line but the beginning of another chapter. The foundation’s alumni network continues to monitor and assist graduates after training, helping them navigate the difficult transition from classroom to employment. From preparing for work to searching for job opportunities, the foundation remains involved as scholars take their first steps toward independence.
And those steps have taken graduates far beyond the Philippines. Dubois proudly shared that LRN Foundation alumni are now working in different parts of the world, including the Maldives, Prague, Australia, Japan, the Middle East, and other international destinations.
Behind every success story, however, is a rigorous selection process. The foundation does not simply look for applicants who want to learn a trade. It seeks young people and individuals who genuinely need an opportunity—particularly those from indigent families. The screening process, Dubois explained, is intense and deeply personal.
“We coordinate with the barangay and visit their houses before and after the course,” he said. That approach reflects the foundation’s commitment to making sure that its scholarships reach those who need them most.
The support extends beyond technical training; it is rooted in understanding the circumstances, aspirations, and challenges of every scholar. For a graduate who once saw limited possibilities ahead, a new skill can become a passport to a better future. A cup of coffee prepared with confidence, a loaf of bread carefully crafted, or a pastry perfected through discipline can become the first step toward a career—and eventually, a life transformed.
After ten years, the numbers tell part of the story: 364 graduates, international careers, and countless families touched by new opportunities. But the deeper story is about empowerment.
Knowledge lifts people up and changes lives. To teach is to plant seeds that grow into dignity, hope, and independence—values that can permeate across generations and help build resilient futures. And to give is not simply to share. It is to empower people to discover their own skills, recognize their own strengths, and believe that they can build something better. That is the legacy La Rose Noire Foundation celebrates at ten: not merely graduates, but lives given a chance to rise.
Essence of The Rose
LRN Foundation takes its wings from the La Rose Noire® Dubois founded in 1991 and has since become one of the brightest lights in the Clark Freeport Zone’s marquee as investment haven.
In celebration of the company’s 35th anniversary, a coffee table book, aptly titled Beyond Passion, authored by Dubois makes the very definition of La Rose Noire – from its core values, to its corporate success, to its advocacies.
“Just as a rose slowly opens petal by petal, so our ideas bloom beyond their early forms and enter the world of infinite possibilities, transforming time and space. A symbol of love and perfection, a single rose, when part of a bouquet, delivers what could never be achieved alone. At La Rose Noire, working together, new dimensions are imagined, and dreams become reality.”
So, Dubois distilled the very essence of the rose, his La Rose Noire into a transformative opportunity most especially for the least and the last in Philippine society.
