Khoa Lé is committed to gender equality, disability and social inclusion—at work and in his personal time.
During the day, Khoa works for the Australian Government’s Aus4Skill’s program as a monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) coordinator with Tetra Tech based in Hanoi, Vietnam. When he leaves the office, he commutes to a local NGO, Vietnam and Friends, where he volunteers teaching children with visual impairment. While it makes for a busy week, volunteering alongside Khoa finds it immensely rewarding. In this interview, we learn more about Khoa’s work and how it’s enhanced by the time he spends volunteering.
What has inspired you to focus your career and your personal time to advancing gender equity, disability and social inclusion?
Aus4Skills is an Aus4Vietnam Investment, managed by Tetra Tech. As my employer, Tetra Tech has been pivotal in expanding my horizons and encouraging me to take personal action to improve Gender Equality, Disability & Social Inclusion (GEDSI) issues within Vietnam.
Tetra Tech’s commitment, advocacy and education in the GEDSI space is driving important change, improving the lives of marginalised groups within Vietnam and across the broader region.
Powerful talks from international colleagues, such as former Director of the Inclusion, Justice and Transformation Practice, Navanita Bhattacharya and an array of compelling Aus4Skills’ activities, especially the GEDSI case studies, inspired me to volunteer to help improve the lives of children with visual impairment.
What kind of impact are you seeing as a result of your work?
I currently have three students, and it’s been fantastic to see their confidence and skills grow as we work together.
This is hugely important as accessibility for people with disabilities in Vietnam is still under development. As a result, they can feel forgotten about in society. They can be reluctant to socialise and interact within the broader community, and often stay at home, rarely talking to people outside of their families. That’s why initiatives working across GEDSI are so important.
When I first began teaching my students, they were very shy and uncomfortable contributing to the class. However, as we’ve worked together, with encouragement and learning exercises, their confidence has grown and their voices have become more empowered.
They’ve vastly improved their English. Vietnam and Friends recently organised a speaking competition in collaboration with the National Innovation Center in Hanoi. Our class received first prize, which was a fantastic achievement for the students and felt hugely rewarding for me as a teacher.
Why is your volunteer work important for your career and your work for the Aus4Skills program?
Volunteering has been immensely rewarding for me personally and for my career development.
In my full-time role as a MEL coordinator, I work as part of the Aus4Skills team, supporting Vietnam to build human resource capacity to take advantage of emerging economic opportunities and achieve long-term development.
My role involves analysing and reporting on project data to help future decision-making on program initiatives. I’ve developed important skills working in MEL as part of a large team, and am passionate about contributing to the large scale, long term change we are carrying out.
However, my MEL role isn’t involved in the direct implementation of programs. Volunteering has enabled me to create and lead change at an on-ground level and develop relationships at a one-to-one level.
That’s been a hugely rewarding aspect for me personally, but also has helped develop important GEDSI vocational skills which I can then transfer to my job with Aus4Skills and their broader development goals.
How are you finding balance between your day job and the important work you're doing in your community after hours?
Tetra Tech has been fantastic in supporting me with my volunteer work.
My volunteering is appreciated and respected within the workplace. My manager, Nguyen Thi Kim Hoa, encourages me to apply new ideas and learnings from volunteering, to help inform my GEDSI work in the MEL setting.
She has also helped balance my schedule, and been flexible with my work hours, enabling me to fully engage with my volunteering commitments.
Tetra Tech knows my voluntary work is extremely important for the students, but also for my ongoing professional development.
This in turn brings greater value to my MEL role with Aus4Skills, and the future work I intend to contribute to the region’s ongoing development goals.
