Founder and CEO

[author][author_image]https://writingthrough.opte.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/3104/2015/06/Sue-150×150.jpg[/author_image]Writing Through was founded in 2010 by the writer and teacher, Sue Guiney. The program grew out of her experiences, positive and negative, from a volunteer trip she took to Cambodia with her family in 2006. That trip led to her writing the first in her collection of novels set in modern day Cambodia, A Clash of Innocents. After the publication of that novel, Sue was determined to bring the fruit of her inspiration back to the people who inspired her. The Writing Workshop now known as Writing Through is her way of giving back to a people and country she has grown to love. From that first workshop grew this international charity targeting underserved and at-risk populations, both children and adults, students and teachers.

Ever since the first workshop was run in the Siem Reap educational shelter, Anjali House, Sue has devoted her writing and much of her teaching to Cambodia. From 2011-2013, she was Writer-in-Residence in the SE Asia Department of The University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), the world’s leading institution for the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. She has traveled around the globe discussing her experiences in Cambodia and drawing attention to that country’s needs. Her Cambodian novels are among the only literary fiction written for an English-speaking audience about modern day, post Khmer Rouge Cambodia. The second in the collection, Out of the Ruins, was published in 2014.

Sue is also an internationally recognized poet. Besides her own poetry collections, her work has been widely published in literary journals and anthologized in collections devoted to global human rights issues.[/author]

Board Of Directors

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingthrough.opte.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/3104/2015/06/Wendee.jpeg[/author_image] [author_info]Wendee Wolfson is a Leadership Coach and Consultant to corporate executives, entrepreneurs, non-profit directors, and family business leaders.

At Wealthbridge Partners, she has consulted to families in business together, creating and facilitating programs for family members and wealth managers on family dynamics, communications, leadership development, and leadership transitions between generations. In an independent practice, she has worked with non-profit boards to develop strategic initiatives and implement leadership transitions as a consultant and as a board member.

As a co-founder and part of the management team of both Women’s Growth Capital Fund, a venture capital fund that invested exclusively in women entrepreneurs, and WomenAngels.net, a professionally managed fund of active women angel investors, Wendee has worked closely with entrepreneurs of high-growth, startup companies, advising them on business models, financing, and a variety of management challenges. She served on the board or as board advisor to several portfolio companies. She remains actively involved with organized angel investing groups, coordinating and facilitating programs for an international exchange of effective practices among the leaders of groups in developed and emerging countries, through the Angel Capital Association.

Wendee began her career and spent several years in the financial services industry. She has an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a Certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University.[/author_info] [/author][author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingthrough.opte.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/3104/2015/06/T-Craig-photo.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Trisha Craig is Dean of International and Professional Experience at Yale NUS, Yale’s new liberal arts college in Singapore. Previously she was director of Wheelock College Singapore. Prior to moving to Southeast Asia, Trisha spent a decade as director of the Centre for European Studies at Harvard University. Trisha is a political sociologist with a focus on institution building and has worked as a policy advisor and taught in many countries including El Salvador, Spain, the United Kingdom, Qatar, China, India, Thailand and South Africa. She is co-author of the book, The Quality of Life in Rural Asia, published by Oxford University Press, the author of many articles and a frequent contributer to the Straits Times and TODAY on issues of early childhood education, demographic trends, education and globalization. Trisha holds a PhD from Yale University and has served on the boards of a number of non-profit organizations and government commissions.[/author_info] [/author][author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingthrough.opte.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/3104/2016/05/Jenny-photo.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Jenny Pearson has lived and worked in Cambodia since 1995. She has qualifications in social work and public sector management and previously worked in the public sector in England. She arrived in Cambodia as a volunteer and went on to found and direct VBNK, Cambodia’s leading capacity development institution. She has played a leading role in developing the capacity of the not-for-profit sector in Cambodia, introducing creative methodologies into capacity development approaches. She has served on the boards of several prominent development organisations. In 2007 she was a visiting fellow at the Institute of Development Studies in the UK.

Since she stepped down from VBNK in 2008, Jenny spends her time consulting and writing about capacity development, drawing on her years of experience to contribute the voice of practice to the international discourse on capacity development. She is the author of ‘Creative Capacity Development: learning to adapt in development practice’, and a range of other works including the OECD Working Paper ‘Training and Beyond: Seeking better practices for capacity development’. She also works as a coach and facilitator, helping individuals and groups integrate learning into their working practices for enhanced performance. She holds dual British and Cambodian citizenship and lives in a village outside Phnom Penh with her adopted Cambodian family. [/author_info][/author][author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingthrough.opte.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/3104/2015/06/jen-150×150.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Jen Flynn is the Director of Clubs and Shared Interest Groups at the Harvard Alumni Association, where she helps Harvard’s 248 alumni organizations around the world build leadership strength and organizational capacity, define strategy, and tackle tough challenges.   Prior to Harvard, she was the Director of Educational Programs and Partnerships at EF Education, developing digital content and new media initiatives, designing academic programs, and building strategic relationships between EF and other educational organizations, including Apple, PBS, and Advanced Placement of the College Board. For more than six years, she worked at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University in a number of positions, most recently as Director of Advancement Outreach and Alumnae Affairs. She has advised universities in Brazil, Poland, China, England, Scotland, the Middle East, Australia, and around the US in alumni engagement strategy and organizational capacity-building, and has served as a presenter at many professional conferences.

She received her Master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, with a dual concentration in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy, and in Technology, Innovation, and Education; and received her Bachelor’s degree with a double major in English Literature and Performing Arts from Colby College.[/author_info][/author][author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingthrough.opte.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/3104/2015/06/don2-150×150.jpg[/author_image][author_info]Don Guiney is a retired US corporate finance lawyer, who practiced in London for 26 years. Don was a partner for 16 years at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, a major international law firm based in London. Don has been involved in volunteer and pro bono work throughout his career. He led of the largest youth baseball and softball organisation in the UK for 25 years. He has served as the President of the Harvard Club of the United Kingdom, the largest Harvard alumni organisation outside the US. He was also a member of the Harvard Alumni Association Board of Directors. In addition to his work with Writing Through, Don is a member of the Board of Directors of Anjali House, an educational shelter for at risk children in Siem Reap, Cambodia. He is a volunteer for the International Senior Lawyers Project, focusing on developing legal capacity to support impact investing in Cambodia and Southeast Asia. He is also an independent non-executive director for RSRCHXchange Ltd., a UK-based fintech start-up and OPTE Pte. Ltd., a web design and hosting start-up based in Siem Reap, Cambodia. D on received an AB degree from Harvard College and a JD from Columbia law School.[/author_info] [/author]

Facilitators

Writing Through workshops are provided by specially trained Facilitators. A Facilitator does not have to be a creative writer nor a teacher. All it requires is someone who enjoys engaging and communicating with people, particularly with young people, has a respectful and open-minded attitude, and a sense of humor.

Writing Through has developed a two-step process which leads to becoming a fully accredited Facilitator. The first step is the Introductory Session where potential facilitators-in-training learn, either individually or in a group, about the program, its specific pedagogy and ground rules, and a basic overview of the host countries. All trainees will go home with a specially created Writing Through manual.

The second step is Shadowing. People who have already participated in a training session are qualified to shadow a workshop conducted by a fully accredited Facilitator. The Shadow acts as the Facilitator’s ‘teaching assistant’, and thereby learns the details of how to deliver the Writing Through program. As a result, the Facilitator and Shadow work and live very closely together during the workshop week.

Volunteers

You do not need to make a commitment to travel in order to become involved in the Writing Through family. We understand that not everyone is comfortable or interested in actually facilitating a workshop. But there are many other ways that a volunteer can help, no matter where they are, no matter where they live. We are a small, volunteer-led organisation but our small size does not reflect the large amount of tasks required to deliver our programs. For example, we are always looking for assistance with:

• Administration, report writing, financial oversight
• Outreach and client cultivation
• Website and social media management
• Public relations and promotion
• Fundraising
• Monitoring and Evaluation supervision
• Volunteer coordination

to name a few. Our volunteers come from all over the world and are all ages. Do contact us if you have an interest, some available time and skills which you believe can be useful.