About our Program Director
Anthony, known to his friends as Ton, is the prime mover and currently the program director for Scaleable Empowerment℠.
Ton has served as an employer and employee across several industries in both Filipino and multi-cultural settings since 1993. He held various leadership positions prior to his last official designation as Chief Finance Officer. In the nearly seven years serving under this title, Ton has had to repeatedly draw lessons from his past to deliver permanent solutions to many of his employer's most persistent challenges. He had become increasingly convinced that, instead of a series of stops that would have enabled him to stay on a focused professional direction, his tenures had been all about building a versatile skill set and acquiring a generalist’s perspective of key business functions. Ton now firmly believes that his earlier career decisions had all somehow led him to that point.
An avid reader, enthusiastic learner and relentless problem-solver, Ton has a keen sense of humor and an even keener fascination for feudal history and Japanese culture, particularly bushido, the samurai code of honor.
Of the seven bushido virtues, makoto (誠)—translated as sincerity or truthfulness—holds the deepest meaning for Ton. Among the ancient samurai, a vassal who chose “beautiful words” instead of telling his lord the truth was considered deceitful and dishonorable. Ton concludes that bushido’s seven virtues can be summed up into three words: commitment to service, which he credits to be the constant driving force throughout his professional career.
In mid-August 2021, after officially relinquishing his position as CFO, Ton branded himself The Samurai CFO™ as a humorous dig at the unorthodox path his career has taken him thus far. Jokes aside, Ton strongly believes that all who must become leaders must grow to become comfortable embodying five personas: the problem-solver, the wall-breaker, the bridge-builder, the steward, and the smith.
Anthony Yu Jr.
Program Director