Generation Future 2025
Empowering Cambodia’s young social innovators to build stronger, more inclusive communities
- English
- Khmer
Generation Future gives young people from different backgrounds in Cambodia the chance to learn, grow, and share new innovative ideas. By empowering the next generation of innovators and changemakers with entrepreneurship skills to run social community projects, Generation Future aims to help build a stronger, more inclusive, and forward-looking Cambodia.
In 2025, we’re partnering with the social enterprise Impact Hub to support over 105 young leaders working together across 15 teams in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Over seven months, they join bootcamps, visit communities, and connect with local partners to better understand challenges and shape solutions to issues impacting young people and the community today, such as mental health, climate change, menstrual hygiene, youth civic participation, road safety, life skills, and more. Along the way, they receive guidance from mentors and coaches, take part in masterclasses, and use online learning platforms to learn at their own pace.
The Generation Future journey
- Hackathon: We brought together over 150 young changemakers from Phnom Penh and Siem Reap and held a social hackathon in each city. Over one day, our young changemakers explored various topics on entrepreneurship, including strategic thinking, prototyping, and business project planning. By the end of the hackathons, 15 standout teams were selected to bring their ideas to life with seed funding from UNICEF.
- Bootcamp: The 15 selected teams went through a five-day bootcamp to help shape their solutions to the community problems they want to tackle. Support from project coaches and partners help turn ideas into doable actions and activities.
- Project implementation with seed funding, masterclass and mentoring: After strengthening their project ideas, we match them with professional and experienced mentors from various industries to guide them throughout the project implementation and improvement. Participants also attend a series of masterclasses that help build essential skills such as project management, including budgeting and team management, digital advocacy, and monitoring and evaluation.
Meet the young social innovator teams!
D-Mental Girls: is a youth-led initiative dedicated to raising awareness about the mental health challenges faced by people with disabilities. Their mission is to challenge stigma and misconceptions and promote a more inclusive and compassionate society through social media content, in person activities, and community engagement that fosters support for their mental well-being. A key component will be the pop-up event “Your Voice, Our Change”, where community members share their perspectives on mental health challenges.
Empower Girls: is a youth-led initiative founded by young women in STEM to inspire Cambodian high school students, especially girls, to explore STEM through practical tools and experiences. The team wants to encourage girls to pursue STEM and communicate their goals with their family, who may not see it as a path for them. The mission of Empower Girls is to cultivate lasting interest in STEM and ensure more girls see themselves as future innovators, leaders, and changemakers.
Green Miracle: aims to raise awareness and inspire young people to take action on climate change and plastic pollution. A Trash Art contest will give hundreds of high school students the chance to turn waste into beautiful works of art and showcase their creativity, innovation, and sustainable practices.
Hyper Healer: is dedicated to alleviating the mental workload faced by medical students. It aims to empower students to prioritize self-care and strengthen their professional resilience, so they can ultimately deliver better care to the patients they will one day serve. The solution is to create a set of flashcards designed to lift spirits when they feel down. These flashcards can also serve as effective icebreakers and peer-to-peer reflection exercises.
Neary Flow: is about care and breaking silence. Recognizing that many girls lack menstrual pads and safe spaces, and many may miss school or suffer alone, their “Happy Menstrual” campaign aims to raise awareness and provide free pads in schools. With Neary Flow, every girl can face her period with pride and confidence. No girl has to feel ashamed or left behind, as they should focus on their dreams, not their discomfort.
Srolanh-Kids: is an initiative created by youth, for youth. Their mission is to raise awareness among high school students about bullying and discrimination, and to provide a safe space where individuals can express their feelings without fear or shame. They aim to support mental well-being and empower students to speak up, be heard, and support one another.
Thamavon: is a youth-led project addressing the gap between life skills taught in Cambodian schools and their real-life application. It develops engaging surveys and trains youth volunteers, collects data through tours and interactive Pop-Up events, analyzes findings to produce clear, visually appealing reports, and shares results with relevant stakeholders. The project empowers young people to participate in decision-making and advocate for stronger life skills education.
4 Youth: wants to enhance the ability of Cambodian youth to find jobs. Their project addresses youth unemployment by equipping students with essential job-readiness skills.
And our teams in Siem Reap
Anakut Kon Yerng Our Future Child: aims to reduce domestic violence by sharing knowledge about positive parenting. A notebook will be designed with positive parenting messages and tips, which will be distributed to households in selected communes. The book will serve as both a day-to-day notebook and a method to instill a positive parenting mindset in parents.
Chnai: noticed a growing issue with bagasse waste and the leftover material from sugarcane juice vendors, especially in places like Siem Reap city. This waste not only clutters the streets of a major tourist destination but also impacts the city’s overall beauty. The team has created a prototype that turns sugarcane waste into organic compost fertilizer. This locally made, natural alternative to chemical fertilizers enhances crop quality and supports the healthy growth of fruits, flowers, and vegetables in an eco-friendly way.
Rean Krav System: is building a digital storytelling platform that shares youth’s real experiences of building, failing, leading, and navigating life—not about grades or titles, but grit, growth, and lessons learned outside the classroom. Powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), the platform helps others discover relatable stories and insights that feel like advice from someone who’s been there. They believe the lessons that matter most aren’t always taught—they’re lived.
Night Light: has a mission to enhance the comfort and safety of communities at night, whether on the road or in the village. The project focuses on ensuring the safety of all individuals, with particular attention to young women traveling at night. The solution involves collaborating with local authorities to install solar-powered streetlights, helping improve visibility.
Sabay Ann: is a joyful reading project that brings books and fun, play-based literacy activities to children in rural areas. In communities where schools lack libraries and families have limited access to books, Sabay Ann creates welcoming spaces that spark a love for reading, build confidence, and support self-expression. Through activities, storytelling, and local reading sessions, the project gives children early exposure to reading, helping them develop strong literacy skills and setting the foundation for success in school and life.
Sokhapheap Yuvatey: empowers girls and women to take care of their health by encouraging regular breast self-checks. Through awareness raising workshops and campaigns, they aim to help girls and women understand the importance of early detection in preventing breast cancer. They use simple, clear information to teach them how to check their bodies, recognize warning signs, and seek medical help when needed. By giving them knowledge and confidence, they hope to inspire girls and women to protect their own lives.
Super Mom: aims to promote the mental well-being of pregnant women who are facing emotional struggles but are unable to express them. The Super Mom team will speak on behalf of these women and deliver a message to society—to listen, understand, and show care for women who are bringing new life into this world, so both mother and baby can have a full and healthy well-being.
Meet the project mentors!
Green Miracle
Tea Thierry is an entrepreneur and executive with over 20 years of experience in aviation, infrastructure, venture capital, and technology. As Vice President of OCIC (Overseas Cambodian Investment Corporation) Group and Founder and Investor at Negotia Capital, he supports over 30 startups globally in the fields of fintech, aerospace, cleantech, and proptech, focusing on sustainable growth and technological innovation in urban air mobility, aerospace, and agriculture. He actively mentors young entrepreneurs and previously served as CEO of Airbus Group in the Philippines. He’s also the Deputy CEO of Connexion Tech Hub and Co-Founder of the Green Oasis Initiative.
D-Mental Girls
Alejandra Martinez Zavala is Director of a multidisciplinary pediatric therapy clinic offering speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, applied behavior analysis, and psychology services. She has over 10 years of speech therapy experience supporting children with disabilities across diverse cultural contexts in Cambodia and beyond, and she’s passionate about sustainable organizational growth, talent development, and driving social impact initiatives.
Hyper Healer
Constanza González Vásquez is a Chile-registered clinical psychologist with over a decade of international experience in social protection and health care in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, the United States, the Philippines, and Cambodia. At her private practice, she seeks to help culturally diverse individuals navigate life challenges and foster meaningful growth. Whether in therapy or through her volunteer work, she’s deeply committed to promoting dignified, inclusive, and culturally responsive mental health and wellbeing.
Empower Girls
Lay Sivhuang is a dynamic force in Asia-Europe's tech ecosystem, with 12+ years of experience bridging Silicon Valley innovation with Southeast Asian markets. Her expertise spans cutting-edge anti-counterfeiting NGC technology, fintech disruption, smart logistics, e-commerce transformation, and edtech revolution. As Managing Director of Dichi Academy, she brings exclusive Silicon Valley tech training to Cambodia, reshaping the country's digital talent pipeline. Her influence extends to government advisory roles with the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and leadership as President of the Erasmus Mundus Association in Cambodia.
Neary Flow
Sarah Udin is transforming menstrual health across Cambodia through Amala Periods, a social enterprise she founded in 2021 in Phnom Penh. Offering reusable period products, she won the Impact Hub Entrepreneurship Panel Award and is now focused on locally manufacturing period underwear while continuing donations and period education to local schools and NGOs. With a background in sustainable business, education, and events organization, Sarah is excited to share her knowledge with the next generation of period entrepreneurs.
Srolanh Kids
Dixon Siu: promotes and executes Artificial Intelligence (AI) Governance at Fujitsu in Japan. He’s organized children online safety workshops and promoted digital human rights and ethical data sharing both at Fujitsu and civil society organizations.
4 Youth
Chhay Sophorn, a native Cambodian with French citizenship, has 20+ years of experiences across scientific research, luxury business, and business associations. She currently leads HR CODE, a Cambodian headhunting and HR consulting firm, after senior roles at IBC and EuroCham. As a business consultant, she supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups in research and development (R&D), food and beverage (F&B) services, construction, education, and aviation. Well-connected across Cambodia and Southeast Asia, Sophorn serves on advisory boards at Platform Impact, EuroCham HR Committee, French Chamber of Commerce, French Consular in Cambodia, and a private Phnom Penh investment club.
Thamavon
Path Heang is Social Policy Specialist with UNICEF Cambodia supporting government Decentralization and Deconcentration (D&D) reform. Since 2009, he's served as Youth Development Specialist, Chief of Field Offices, and Programme Specialist on D&D and Urbanization. He previously worked with UNDP, World Bank, and ILO as a founding member of Cambodia's labor Arbitration Council.
Rean Krav System
Chanda Pen boasts a 20-year career in product development and system design, brining a passion for technology, electronic payments, and the startup ecosystem. He previously led the USAID Digital Workforce Development initiative as Chief of Party, focusing on enhancing technical education in Cambodia. Chanda co-founded and exited Bongloy, a Southeast Asian fintech company, in 2021. He’s held prominent roles such as Council Member of the Association of Banks of Cambodia, Chair of the National KHQR Code Task Force Committee, and Chairman of the Cambodia Association of Finance and Technology. Currently, Chanda teaches fintech at the National University of Management and serves as an Independent Director on the board of Phillip Bank.
Anakut Kon Yerng
Chhay Vivodin is a Cambodian community development specialist with over 20 years of experience in programme leadership, capacity building, and safeguarding. He’s designed and facilitated Training of Trainers (ToT) for government officials, NGOs, and community groups on topics including child protection, gender-based violence prevention, positive parenting, financial literacy, and social behaviour change. He’s accredited by the ILO as a National Trainer on Financial Education and recognized by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs as a Master Trainer on positive parenting.
Anakut Kon Yerng
Prak Sopheap is a social work professional with a Master’s degree and over nine years’ experience in child protection, early childhood development, and NGO project management. He specializes in delivering integrated, rights-based programmes that promote safe environments for vulnerable children and strengthen community resilience. His work is driven by a commitment to breaking the cycle of poverty and fostering sustainable community impact.
Super Mom
Somontha Koy has 20 years’ experience in public health with international organizations and UN agencies (Jhpiego, FHI 360, ITECH, World Bank, URC, Intervida International, WHO, IOM), serving as head of health sector, manager, and team leader. Currently, he is Deputy Chief of Party for the MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership project in Cambodia. He’s experienced across nutrition, maternal and child health (MCH, mental health, migration health, health system strengthening, and preservice education, with 10 years of experience in clinical settings as Head Emergency Nurse and Telemedicine Practitioner.
Super Mom
Dr. Khine Haymar Myint brings 16+ years of expertise in maternal and child health, health systems strengthening, and monitoring and evaluation. She’s currently Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Director at Jhpiego Myanmar and Cambodia, where she leads data-driven strategies to improve health outcomes across diverse communities. Her career spans technical and leadership roles in Myanmar and Cambodia, including spearheading national health workforce initiatives and mentoring frontline health workers. She’s passionate about supporting women leaders in creating meaningful community change.
Sokhapheab Yuvatey
Lauren Shear Zinner joined UNICEF Cambodia as Health Specialist in January 2025 after over a decade in technical and leadership roles across Malawi, Liberia, Myanmar, and Ukraine. She brings extensive experience working with governments to build and reform public health systems, develop data-driven policies, increase integration, promote innovation, and build capacity across communicable and non-communicable diseases, maternal health, and health system strengthening.
Sabay Ann
Huon Sothearoath has been a library expert at Shanti Volunteer Association since 1995 and currently coordinates reading promotion and early childhood education projects. She’s served as a library instructor (2004-2013), training schools in Banteay Meanchey, Kampong Thom, and Siem Reap provinces, and has collaborated with Ministry of Education departments to develop a Library Guidebook (2008), Primary School Library Standards (2009-2011), and National Reading Day materials (2012). She’s been an active Cambodia Book Fair Committee member since 2013.
Night Light
Ol Chin is a Renewable Energy Specialist at CAPRED, supporting Cambodia’s transition to greener energy. She works with the Royal Government of Cambodia to improve renewable energy management, promote integration, and foster private sector investment in energy efficiency. With prior experience at solar energy companies supporting farmers, she’s committed to advancing affordable green energy solutions to help Cambodia address climate change.
Chnai
Sam Phalla has 27+ years’ experience in waste management and compost recycling as Director of COMPOSTED, a Cambodian NGO focused on capacity building and sustainable waste management. He successfully implemented the "Zero Waste Koh Trung Island" project as national consultant for 3RproMar with GIZ. Since 1997, COMPOSTED has been processing 5–10 tons of organic waste daily into compost and has launched plastic clean-up activities in Battambang, Kampong Cham, and Kratie provinces, collecting waste from the Sangke and Mekong rivers with support from One Earth – One Ocean.