Sopheach Mel is a senior program officer with The Asia Foundation in Cambodia. He works on the second phase of the DFAT-funded ACCESS program focusing on improving legal aid services for women survivors of gender-based violence (GBV). Through the program, Sopheach engages with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and subnational teams to increase the evidence base to improve the policy environment for access to justice among women affected by GBV. As part of his role at the Foundation’s Cambodia office, he also coordinates and supports the Accelerate Women’s Entrepreneurship and Access to Capital project which benefits women-led small and micro-businesses in Cambodia. Sopheach is experienced in the fields of economic empowerment, social enterprise, capacity building, small business management training, research, and project management. In 2010, he started his career with AFESIP-Cambodia as an assistant to the Education and Training program manager and was promoted in 2014 to Economic Empowerment program manager. In those capacities, Sopheach worked in the organization to provide overall management and coordination of project activities, budget, and staff; develop strategy and a detailed work plan for the program as well as carry out the monitoring and evaluating project activities and strengthening partnership and collaboration with relevant government agencies, private sectors, NGOs/IGOs.
Education: Sopheach holds a master’s degree in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the University of Adelaide, Australia, and another master’s degree in Business Administration from Norton University, Cambodia.