Who We Are | First Step Cambodia

Meet the Team

Operating from our Siem Reap and Phnom Penh offices, the FSC team is a family of dedicated professionals; with twelve Social Workers out in the community and three Trainers delivering our programs on a daily basis.

Meet The Team

Our Management Team

The organization is under the guidance of the management team: the Executive Director, the Program Manager, the Development Manager, and the Admin and Finance Manager.

Our Management Team

Executive Director

Chamreun Yaim

Chamreun Yaim holds a Bachelors Degree in Human Resource Management and a Masters in Social Work. Prior to joining First Step Cambodia, Chamreun worked in the field of education, social work and mental health for organizations such as Science of Life, Social Services of Cambodia, the Trans-Cultural Psychosocial Organization and the Chab Dai Coalition. In 2009, Chamreun supported the development of a specialist-training curriculum for professionals who work with boys and young men affected by sexual abuse. The lack of knowledge and awareness of, and the poor responses to men and boys experiencing sexual violence, inspired him to co-found First Step Cambodia. Two years later, Chamreun took on the role of Executive Director and has since been guiding the organization in its professionalization, service delivery, program development and growth. Chamreun has begun numerous national and international alliances of civil society organizations working together to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families, sharing FSC’s expertise and initiating new research projects, both independent and collaborative.

Program Manager

Chanda Phang

Chanda brings along his extensive experience working with NGOs since 1998, supporting marginalized populations. His expertise included child protection, trafficking, education, community development, and children in conflict with the law. He was managing multiple programs, building and maintaining families to stay together, and supporting them to be able to prevent themselves from all forms of abuse and exploitation. Chanda graduated with his bachelor's degree in business management from the National Institute of Business, and a master's degree in development management from Norton University.

Development Manager

Chanveasna Chin

Mr. Chin Chanveasna holds Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Pannasastra University of Cambodia (PUC). Before joining FSC, Mr. Chanveasna served as Executive Director of End Child Prostitution, Abuse and Trafficking (ECPAT-Cambodia) for over 9 years, Executive Director of NGO Education Partnership (NEP) for 5 years and as Operations Manager for VVOB in Cambodia for 4 and half years.

Admin & Finance Manager

Rotana Roeun

Rotana Roeun joined FSC in 2013 and holds a Master's in Financial Management. He manages the financial processes of the organization, including budget planning, internal controlling and financial reporting to our donors. Managing the finance & admin team, he oversees our HR and finance policies and all administrative processes. Rotana is exemplary of FSC’s commitment to the professional development of its employees. Originally joining the organization as an Admin Assistant in 2013, Rotana obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration in 2015 while moving into the positions of Assistant and Admin and Finance Officer, subsequently. During those years, he continued his studies at the Royal University of Law and Economics. Obtaining his Master's Degree in Financial Management early 2019 allowed him to take on the opportunity of becoming FSC’s new Admin and Finance Manager. His dedication to, and years of experience at, FSC make him an invaluable asset to our management team.

Our Board of Directors

Our work is overseen by an external governing Board of Directors comprising of 5 members.

Our Board

Vann Khemreth

Chairman

Mr. VANN Khemreth is a highly experienced NGO professional for almost 20 years with a Master of Business Administration from the National University of Management, obtained in 2014. With nearly two decades of experience, he has worked extensively in child protection across Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia and Myanmar, community development and Business Development Advisor, he drove growth and expanded market presence. He conducted comprehensive market research, formulated business development strategies, and collaborated with cross-functional teams to align activities with overall company objectives.

Mr. Khemreth's extensive experience in child protection, strategic planning, capacity building, and stakeholder collaboration highlights his commitment to fostering safe environments for children and communities. His diverse roles demonstrate his ability to drive effective programs and initiatives in the NGO sector.

Khim Pisey

Vice-Chair

Mrs. KHIM Pisey, graduated Bachelor’s from Pannasastra University of Cambodia majored in Business Administration. Mrs. Pisey has 18 years of experience working with non-profit organizations with different expertise on women and girls’ empowerment, counseling, gender equity and equality, financial empowerment, leadership and domestic violence. Mrs. Khim Pisey is currently an Executive Director of Women’s Resource Center and a Connection-Centered Transformative Coach. She developed strong leadership skills for leading the organizational strategy, programs implementation as well as fundraising and staff supervision. Mrs. Pisey’s passion is to create a safe place for children and protect them from any forms of abuse that’s why she becomes part of the board of directors with First Step Cambodia, a great organization to make a difference for children's lives.

Khieu Chetra

Member

Mr. Khieu Chetra is currently the Executive Director of the NGO Education Partnership (NEP), a coalition of 128 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) working in the education sector. He holds a master’s degree in Development Management in Phnom Penh. He is a programme management professional with a project portfolio of nearly two decades of extensive experience in child protection, disability and education. He was the Operation Director of a local NGO in which he managed non-formal education, disability, safe migration and child protection projects. He also worked as the Coordinator of the Partnership Program for the Protection of Children (3PC), empowered by Friends-International and supported by UNICEF. He believes in strong collaborative work to achieve the ultimate goal.

Sorn Savoeun

Member

Mr. Sorn Savoeun held Master of Social Policy from the University of Melbourne - Australia and two bachelor’s degree of Business-Economics and Education of English. He brings along 15 years of work experience with international and local NGOs, such as World Vision Cambodia, Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC), Angkor Hospital for Children, Plan International (Cambodia and Australia), YGAP Australia and Hagar International Foundation in Cambodia. He possesses strong experience in grant management (donor compliance, grant administration and knowledge management), fundraising and policy analysis/evaluation.

Vacant

Member

To be updated

Our Donors

We thank all our achievements to a strong group of donors who have been very supportive to our cause.

Our Partners

Our approach to partnership and networking remains the key to our effective and efficient service delivery

Maintaining, improving and increasing partnerships and networks is an approach that has proven to be key to effective and efficient service delivery.

NGOs

First Step works in partnership with over a hundred local NGOs. Case conferences among partners allows us to discuss individual cases and determine how we can provide catered support for each child. Partners help us in the provision of specific services that respond to the child's needs (specific health care services, for example). Our partners have free access to our prevention workshops and training curricula. By building their staff's capacity in identifying and responding to potential cases of abuse, and working to improve reporting mechanisms, we have seen a steady increase in the number of referrals to our Social Workers.

Networks

We are a key member of important local and international networks. Through these networks we are able to share best practices and resources, whilst developing joint projects. First Step shares its expertise on child protection, social work and child sexual abuse. We advocate for boys in the members' current and future programs. We are currently an active member of Family Care First, Family for Every Child, the Child Protection and Disability Network, the Big Five Network, the Social Work Network, the Violence Against Children Working Group and the Disability Network.

First Step recognizes the key role of the government in developing and providing social services to children, families and communities. We fully support and operate in close collaboration with the government at all levels. First Step has a strong and productive collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSVY) and works closely with local authorities in the communities and with sub-national and national departments such as the Child Welfare Department, the Departments of Social Affairs (DoSVY), the Commune Committees for Women and Children, the Departments of Women Affairs, the Provincial Committee for Counter Trafficking, and the Women and Children Consultative Committee.

Government

Our History