Governance

The Board of Directors ensures that the Management Team delivers on commitments to its mission and is effective and transparent in its obligations to its funders, staff, residents, communities and other stakeholders, with which it interacts. The Board is constructed of individuals from around the world who meet via online media and visit Cambodia regularly. A sincere thank you to the members who kindly volunteer their time in helping to shape the leaders of the future Cambodia.

Mr. Steven Heimberg

Dr. Steve Heimberg is an attorney and physician who has dedicated his legal career to protecting the rights of the disadvantaged and the powerless in America. Since 1993, Dr. Heimberg has had his own law firm, Heimberg Barr LLP, which specializes in medical litigation, and was selected by the national law journal as the Number One (#1) Medical Law Firm in America. He is a lifetime board member of the USA’s top consumer-oriented attorney organization. He has been named “Person of the Year by each of California’s  premiere support organization for spinal cord injured (paralyzed) people, including the Triumph Foundation and Ralph’s Riders. He has been helping Cambodian children since 2006 and has been on the board of several groups and NGO’s, providing education and community support to some of Cambodia’s poorest communities. Dr. Heimberg has been on the board of governors at ACE since 2011 and took the position of co-chair at the start of 2017.

Mr. Sokchea Saing

As a founder and former Executive Director of Advanced Centre for Empowerment (ACE), Sokchea (Ray) Saing has been at the forefront of youth empowerment in Cambodia since 2009. He has worked tirelessly to deliver a service to meet the demands of the Cambodia impoverished community needs, whilst also serving on the board of other NGO’s and Vice President the Rotary Club, Phnom Penh Metro Area.

Sokchea has gained a number of scholarships and awards from the USA, Singapore and Australia on Leadership, Peace-building and Community Work and in 2009 was awarded a Winston Fellowship to attend the Global Summer Peace-building Institute Program on Leadership and Conflict Transformation at Eastern Mennonite University, USA.

Sokchea has completed a four-year course on Leadership Skills at the dormitory Crossroad Center and gained his Bachelor in Law and a Masters in Private Law from the Royal University of Law and Economics.

He was able to complete a Master of Public Administration (Management) at Flinders University, Australia and was a representative for the Cambodian Australian Network of Students and President of Cambodian Student Association in South Australia. During his time in Australia, Sokchea was appointed Cambodian Community Liaison Officer at Taylor Electorate Office for Mrs Leesa Vlahos PM, Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier and an organizer for the National Union of Workers.

Sokchea is a competent trainer, facilitator and a dynamic public speaker on a variety of topics, delivering workshops to more than 6,000 diverse participants. Recently, he was invited to deliver a keynote speech on ‘Reviewing of Social Services in Cambodia’ at 2015 International Conference on Long-Term Care Social Work and Humanistic Practice in Taiwan.

Mr. Drew McDowell

Mr. Drew McDowell, Chairperson, grew up in New Jersey. He studied business at Colorado State University (BS Finance and MBA), and worked in Denver, before making Cambodia his home. Drew was the managing director and fundraiser for Empowering Youth in Cambodia (EYC). In 2017 Drew moved back to the US and took of the position of the Business Development Executive at the International Centre for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology. He has been a part of the board of governors at ACE since 2015.

Mr. Oum NheanPiseth

Mr. Oun Nheanpiseth has had a large array of experiences in terms of working with NGOs and Universities prior to becoming a National Director of the Credit Bureau Cambodia (CBC).  Piseth received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (1999-2003) and a Masters degree in Science, focusing on Development Management, from Norton University. He formerly held the positions as an Officer Manager at the University of the Nations, a Part time Lecturer at Asia Europe University, and other key positions at many other NGOs and schools. Piseth has been a Board member at ACE since 2011.

Miss Lai, Yi Jung (Jenny)

Miss Lai, Yi Jung (Jenny) was born in Taiwan and has been dedicated to working on the international front through her volunteer work with Beautiful Taiwan Association, an NGO that encourages young people to be part of learning projects while also helping to develop the youth. In 2011, Jenny visited Advanced Centre for Empowerment and since that time Jenny has facilitated and encouraged Taiwanese youth leaders to go to Cambodia and contribute to the work of ACE. Jenny hopes to contribute in a way that will strengthen ACE’s presence in the community to be a creative and guiding organization that fosters the leaders of tomorrow.

Mr. Chean Toing AIN (JC)

Mr. Chean Toing AIN is a Cambodian born citizen and currently the Managing Director at ACE. In 2000, he received a scholarship to study Bachelor of Arts & Humanities, majoring in Psychology and Education at Asia-Pacific International University (former Mission College), Thailand, where he graduated in 2005. JC has since worked in Cambodia in a number of roles that have helped to shape his outlook and abilities. Firstly, he has worked in building capacities and advocated for better services of those that are disadvantaged in his role as a teacher, a lecturer, a trainer, an officer, a manager, a consultant.

In 2013, JC was recognized for his experience and commitment, and equipped him with enough qualifications to pursue his further study and he was awarded a scholarship to study a master degree in Education in Australia for two years under the Australian Award program.

Apart from education advancement and professional experiences, he’s participated in both local and international training, conferences and workshops including: Conference on “Successful Learning Conference 2014”, Sydney, Australia on 23-24 June 2014; training on “Child Safe Environments”, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia on 24 February 2013; training on “Behavior Change Communication”; DanChurchAid/ChristianAiD (DCA/CA), Cambodia and many more.