Emily Williamson

Australian born, Emily has spent her life to date split between Asia and Australia. She grew up with her second home in Bali, with an extended Balinese family, watching as her parents successfully operated international businesses whilst simultaneously having her eyes opened to disadvantaged Indonesian families. This has heavily influenced her love for Khmer people, and humanitarian aid.

Originally from Melbourne, Emily studied at Shelford Girls Grammar before continuing her education at Swinburne University, achieving three scholarships and completing a double degree in Marketing and Communication Design. Always eager to immerse in different cultures and communities, Emily spent a year in Borneo, Malaysia at the Sarawak campus on University exchange. Emily came to Cambodia for the first time when she was 18 years old, and this was a turning point in her life. 

With the country and the Cambodian people leaving such a huge impact on her, she returned to volunteer to teach English in 2015, returning two subsequent times before making the decision in at age 23 to pack up her life in Australia and move to Siem Reap. Unbeknownst to her, this decision would shape her entire career. In 2017, she was a participant of a charity bike ride for a highly respected Australian Charity in Thailand. Witnessing the incredible impact that the fundraising had on local communities, Emily went on to launch her own event. 

 

This consisted of a challenging 650 km bike ride from Southern Cambodia to Siem Reap, hosting 14 participants in 2018 and in 2019, 27 participants. The money raised from these events went directly to helping impoverished families in Siem Reap. The combination of her dedication to the cause, hard work and determination culminated in Emily founding REACH. Her passion lies in breaking the poverty cycle for entire families by getting youths into fair employment and she is committed to achieving this through strategically designed programs.