Social Innovation Program

Women Entrepreneurs' Challange: Addressing Social Issues through Entrepreneurship Vol. 1 New Education for Cambodia

ACT Cambodia: Providing New Education to Survive in the 21st Century

Sasakawa Peace Foundation

December 22, 2023

From left to right: Ms. Chendamoni, Ms. Mataria, and Ms. Samantha. We love our work with all our hearts and we think of them as if they were our own children." (Photo: ACT Cambodia)

The Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) has been implementing the Cnai (innovation in Cambodian) Accelerator Program in Cambodia since 2022. Cnai is modeled after the SanThit (innovation in Burmese) Accelerator Program, which was jointly developed by SPF and Emerging Market Entrepreneurs (EME), a Myanmar-based venture capital (VC) firm in 2021. Cnai also adopts the curriculum of Village CAPITAL, a world-renowned VC investing in early-stage entrepreneurs. The first cohort of the Cnai Accelerator program was implemented in collaboration with partners; Cambodia Investors Corporation (CIC), Asian Development Bank (ADB) Frontier, and EME. A gender perspective was embedded throughout Cnai and provides a level playing field for women entrepreneurs so that they can participate on an equal footing with male entrepreneurs. This is an innovative initiative in Cambodia's entrepreneurship support ecosystem in that the investors serve as the implementing agency and it embraces a gender perspective. Participating entrepreneurs in 20-member cohort face eliminations at each stage, narrowing down the cohort from 20 to 2 at the end. With support and guidance the entrepreneurs receive innovation funding and expand their businesses. After the very intensive program, the four finalists in this year's program are all led by women entrepreneurs by coincidence. We interviewed them about their stories, challenges, and passion for their businesses, and how they are contributing to the empowerment of women in Cambodia through their businesses.

[1] Although The Cnai Accelerator Program targets not only women but also male entrepreneurs, but it has a gender perspective from the design stage of the program to ensure equal participation of all genders. For example, the image character of the Cnai Accelerator's website is a female entrepreneur, to intentionally include women entrepreneurs. Cnai's website has a gender-sensitive language and writing style. In addition, many entrepreneurship support programs hold pitch events in front of large groups of investors, which can be a disadvantage for women who have limited opportunities for public speaking in society. This program places the greatest emphasis on the entrepreneur's aptitude and passion for their participation and commitment to the program. Pitches are also made in front of a few judges rather than to a large audience, with 15 minutes for the presentation and 30 minutes for the Q&A session, replicating the real life experience that might occur when actually speaking to investors. Lastly, participating entrepreneurs will set a gender matrix and how they can make gender impact through the implementation of their businesses, which will be taken into account during the judging process.

ACT's energetic students: Currently, a total of 240 students from elementary to high school study at ACT Cambodia. (Photo: ACT Cambodia)

The first episode of this article series, we will focus on ACT Cambodia (Academy of Careers and Technology), a private K-12 school accredited by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport in Cambodia. ACT is the first school in Cambodia to offer a new educational curriculum that provides children with the critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and innovation skills they need to survive in the 21st century through project-based learning. The school was founded by three female entrepreneurs, Ms. Chendamony Ek from Cambodia, Ms. Martalia Lo from Indonesia, and Ms. Samantha Wager from the United States. We interviewed Ms. Ek and Ms. Lo.

―― Please tell us how ACT was born.

ACT was born out of the idea that Cambodia would need a new kind of education that is more directly related to economic independence of students upon graduation, while being involved in education for children in need as an NGO staff. The idea was well developed; however, it took two years to obtain the government approval because the school was not based on the curriculum outlined by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MOEYS), and it rather introduced a completely new curriculum to realize the education that had never existed before in Cambodia. When we first went to MOEYS to apply for approval, we were told by ministry officials that it would be impossible to get approval, which made us very disappointed. But we did not give up. We went to MOEYS and wrote a letter to the then new Minister of MOEYS, who had written a book about new education for Cambodia. We told him how much the children of Cambodia needed the education that ACT was providing, and expressed our enthusiasm and determination that ACT could embody the new Cambodian education that the Minister of MOEYS had in mind. To our surprise, the Minister responded with a personal letter and granted unusual approval, which granted ACT to be born.

―― Please tell us about your business.

Photo: ACT Cambodia

We have two pillars in our business. One is to run the ACT school as a business. Many students come from the surrounding area of our school, and some drive an hour for the quality new education we provide. The other is to provide scholarships to students in need. We currently have 240 students, over 70 of whom attend our school with a full scholarship. We work closely with 10 organizations that work on issues such as poverty, domestic violence and human trafficking, and child labor. Through this partnership we select our recipients of scholarships, which are funded by donations from our private partners and tuition from the general student population. We provide computers, coaching, and require academic performance for all students so that we do not differentiate between these scholarship grantees and those who are not. We are also currently working on a system that will enable students to earn their degrees remotely. We are in the process of obtaining approval from MOEYS for a digital school where students can earn credits by coming to school only for the final exam, as some students have to move outside of Cambodia with their families as labor migrants. We are also preparing to offer digital learning program to provincial learning centers.

When the school opened in 2018, we had 15 students, but the following year, the number of students doubled, and the year after that, it doubled again, and the number keep growing organically by word of mouth from the parents of our students. Now we have 240 students in total and over 40 teachers. Capacity has become strained, so we are currently looking for investors to buy a new piece of land and build a larger school.

Photo: ACT Cambodia

All of ACT's administrators are women, and I think they are naturally role models for our female students. This has helped to ensure a 50/50 ratio of girls to boys in our technology and other science classes, where girls are usually underrepresented. The first year we started with grade 10 students (first-year high school students in Japan), so we already have three years' worth of data on our graduates. The passing rate and employment rate are much higher than the national average. Many of our graduates are now earning more than us.

Our educational starting point is that every child is unique and gifted. Our role as educators is to support that and show our students that they can achieve anything and change the world. When I look at the success of our graduates, sometimes it is hard to believe that three women could have accomplished something like this.

The first time we took in a student with special needs, we explained to the parents that we did not have special classes at our school for their child, that we did not have the facilities or teachers for them, but they pleaded with us, "We have nowhere else to go." As ACT offers a free one-week trial enrollment for prospective students, we accepted the student on the condition that he could go to the bathroom and eat by himself. The student liked the school less than a week of trial period and formally enrolled. Three years later, the student has changed. He started writing, participating in plays, and communicating better with other students. We arranged a trainer for special needs in another city who provides coaching to the ACT faculty. If we get external investment in the future, we plan to expand our special classes and expand our programs for students with disabilities.

―― How did you get involved with Cnai and what are your thoughts?

In 2022, when I saw the student body doubling in number each year, I felt it was time to scale up, so I searched online and talked to many people about how to do that. It was then that I saw an ad for Cnai on Facebook. The Cnai website had a diagnostic tool to help prospective entrepreneurs gauge what stage their business was at and what is needed to grow. I took it casually first, but I ended up being overwhelmed by the 100 questions I had to answer.

We had participated in other accelerator programs in the past, but they were very generic, whereas Cnai was completely different. Instead of just trying to help us make a good pitch or enhance marketing, there were diagnostic tools that allow us to really understand the current state of the business and identify the steps necessary for success, which were tied to clear evaluation criteria. In order for us to participate in the program, I first had to take a training course where I had to read 44 articles for each issue area on the website and work on the issues. When I saw this, I weakly told Chendamony (Ms. Ek) that I didn't think I could do it. Nevertheless, we worked hard on it after our work hours and with less time to sleep to learn a lot. All three of us came from the non-profit sector and had no business knowledge; even after reading over 40 articles and completing assignments, we had no confidence that we would be accepted into the Cnai program, so we were surprised when we were accepted.

We had never known how to pitch effectively before, and MVP (Minimum Viable Product), North Star Metric were completely new concepts. As we went through the phases of the program, we gradually came to understand it like a domino. I had never participated in such a selective program before, and once we were narrowed down to seven companies, the stages were even harder than the training phase. We had to set our goals and meet them by the weekly meetings, but we just couldn't do it, and I even cried the day before the meeting.

[2] MVP (Minimum Viable Product) refers to the minimum product that can provide value to customers. Rather than aiming for a perfect product or service, it is to provide a product in the minimum state that can solve the issues faced by customers, and then add new features or review improvements based on customer feedback and other factors.
[3] Key indicators that companies set to achieve business growth.

Photo: ACT Cambodia

ACT Project - Preparing and Selling Kimchi

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the business became difficult to manage, and after completing online classes, the students made kimchi under the guidance of Ms. Ek, which was delivered by Ms. Lo. Thanks to the sales of kimchi, they continued to pay the rent and the teachers' salaries. Now the kimchi project has been taken over by the ACT students, who sold more than 50 kilograms at a food festival.

―― What have you learned about the gender perspective?

I had never really thought about it before. However, after setting gender indicators at Cnai, I realized that our business itself has a gender perspective. For example, we employ and provide training for women from disadvantaged backgrounds in our school cafeteria and concession stand. And although girls now make up more than 50% of the students in our technology classes, we have not done anything special to help them. Perhaps our three female entrepreneurs are setting a natural example by standing in front of them and showing strong leadership.

―― How has it been for you being a part of the Cnai community?

I often go to a café to talk with the participating entrepreneurs of Cnai and have made many great friends. Other startups in the education field were also participating, so we are exploring the possibility of collaborating with them. It was great to have a community where we could learn and help each other together. When I hear the stories of the other entrepreneurs, I feel that their businesses are really needed in Cambodia, and I hope that they will solve the challenges of vulnerable women in Cambodia. I am happy to be a part of this community.

―― What are the next steps for ACT?

Our goal is to scale up and provide as many children as possible with the best possible educational experience. We also want to expand our reach to children from low- to moderate-income families and provide higher salaries and skill-building opportunities for our school staff.

Joining Cnai has been a daunting, but life-changing experience. I sincerely thank the Cnai team for giving us this opportunity to grow our business and for truly believing in us and running with us like a dance partner. They were brutally honest in their feedback at times, but we felt that they believed in us without being critical. We worked hard, cut down on sleep, no vacation time, and cried our eyes out, but we believe it was a life-changing experience. Before we participated, we thought we were experienced entrepreneurs, but now we aspire to be great entrepreneurs.

ACT Project - Self-Cooling School

A Self -Cooling School is a joint project by students and teachers. Cambodia has a hot climate, but few schools, including public schools, are equipped with air conditioners, which consume energy. For this reason, passive cooling technology is used to naturally circulate cool air. This is also part of ACT's "project-based learning", in which students are given challenges and come up with the solutions. Currently, they are looking for a piece of land and investors to build a new school building to put this idea into action. "I believe that education needs to change. The future our children will experience will be different from the present. They will need to be creative."

―― Editor's Postscript

In Cambodia, I often encounter women entrepreneurs who are engaged in entrepreneurial activities with incredible energy and passion, just like ACT. The Gender Investment and Innovation Program of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation will continue to provide such entrepreneurs with training opportunities on business, and investor perspectives and to increase their contacts with impact investors, so that their businesses will grow, and their impact will benefit women and children in Cambodia, who are the future of the country. We would like to continue providing support through our programs.

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Women Entrepreneurs' Challange: Addressing Social Issues through Entrepreneurship Vol. 1 New Education for Cambodia

ACT Cambodia: Providing New Education to Survive in the 21st Century

―― Please tell us how ACT was born.

―― Please tell us about your business.

―― How did you get involved with Cnai and what are your thoughts?

―― What have you learned about the gender perspective?

―― How has it been for you being a part of the Cnai community?

―― What are the next steps for ACT?

―― Editor's Postscript

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