BOARD & GOVERNANCE
Our team of skilled professionals ensuring ethical practice.
Board & Governance
Central to REACH Siem Reap’s organisational structure, is our ongoing financial reporting, accountability and transparency to all donors. To ensure longevity of our cause, we operate the following two entities:
The first entity is our Australian fundraising arm and registered charity ‘REACH Siem Reap Ltd.’ This charity is solely aimed at raising funds to send to our Cambodian project. All directors of our Australian charity are volunteers. The second is our Cambodian project locally registered NGO #8021 ‘REACH Siem Reap Organisation’. This is where our local team stands alongside families in their fight against poverty, and drives change. This is where all the magic happens.
Encouraging, supporting and guiding both entities is our Advisory Board. On this board sits our team of professional volunteers who offer their skills, advocacy and ongoing support regarding financial expenditure. This special team of volunteers oversee our policies and ensure ethical governance. Each board member excels in their own professional field, but have taken the time from their personal commitments to support and govern our cause. Each and every member shares the common goal of helping those less fortunate.
DIRECTORS CAMBODIA
Emily Williamson
Founder & Program Director
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. Having spent a life split between Asia and Australia, Emily was always eager to immerse herself in different cultures and communities. She visited Cambodia for the first time as an 18-year-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 several times before deciding at age 23 packing up her life and moving to Siem Reap. Unbeknownst to her, this decision would shape her entire career. Once here, she worked for several years in Marketing and Fundraising before forming a vision of what could be and the incredible impact a well-run NGO could achieve for local communities.
Chea Kosal
Co-Director
Born in Siem Reap into an impoverished family and having first learned English at a pagoda, Kosal is now a successful landlord. As the volunteer Khmer Director, Kosal has been heavily involved in the planning and establishment of REACH as a local NGO. Kosal is passionate about his role at REACH due to his dedication to improving the lives of families in need in Cambodia. He believes in bridging the gap between rich and poor by ensuring that all children, no matter their background, can attend school. In the future, he hopes for the youth at REACH to become great role models for others in the community. He believes that with involvement and encouragement from their parents, in addition to their teachers, our students will have the opportunity to fulfill their dreams. Kosal supports all things REACH, as well as the development of his country.
Sreylin
Co-Director
Sreylin was born and raised in Siem Reap, and still lives there now. She feels very lucky to have grown up in the city as she understands that there are more opportunities for schooling and employment than in the rural countryside, and she is happy that her children will have access to education. When she completed high school, she worked in a small shop selling clothes. Now she is a full-time proud mother of two, and on the Cambodian directors' board for REACH Siem Reap. She is extremely grateful to volunteer for REACH because she strongly believes in their goal to help families break the poverty cycle. She wants to ensure that impoverished families also have access to education, and their children have access to food, and as she watches the positive effect that REACH’s programs have on the families in the community, she is proud to be involved.
DIRECTORS AUSTRALIA
Mark Lyndon
Co-Director / Treasurer
Mark became a qualified accountant in 1987 and after short periods with both the ANZ bank and the Australian Tax Office, chose to commence his own Accounting business. After 25 years of assisting small business owners, Mark sold his Accounting business and went into small business himself. Mark is now Managing Director of a national training organization. Mark is focused on ensuring that REACH has the structure and expertise to ensure REACH meets the highest compliance standards. It is imperative that all donors and professionals that support us are certain their contributions to REACH are distributed appropriately. Beyond the figures, Mark has an incredibly large heart and was absolutely devastated by the overwhelming effects of poverty in Cambodia. He has seen first-hand how challenging life is for Khmer children, and wants to play his part to ensure they have access to the basic needs of education, food and healthcare.
Emily Williamson
Co-Director
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. Having spent a life split between Asia and Australia, Emily was always eager to immerse herself in different cultures and communities. She visited Cambodia for the first time as an 18-year-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 several times before deciding at age 23 packing up her life and moving to Siem Reap. Unbeknownst to her, this decision would shape her entire career. Once here, she worked for several years in Marketing and Fundraising before forming a vision of what could be and the incredible impact a well-run NGO could achieve for local communities.
Craig Shearn
Co-Director & Chairman
Craig is a career property person based in Melbourne, now runs his own Property Advisory business and has sat on a number of Company boards in both small & large organisations. Having grown up in his early years in Asia, travelled extensively, throughout his life, he has seen first-hand where people, particularly children are given opportunities, catering for basic needs such as housing, education & nutrition, what a difference can be made over the passage of time. In early 2019 he joined Co-Director & Founder of Reach, Emily Williamson and a number of other great people on a charity bike ride from the bottom to the top of Cambodia. It was this experience & his close friendship with Emily & her family that he now feels he can assist in helping Reach achieve its goals
INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD
Oliver Allcock
Board Member – United Kingdom
Ollie is a Commercial Sustainability Manager at ClimatePartner; a leading carbon accounting firm that helps organisations to tackle the climate crisis. In this role he talks to organisations and stakeholders from different industries and backgrounds, helping them to build their sustainability strategies, reduce their emissions and engage with their supply chains and customers. He is constantly discussing mainly environmental but also social and governance issues across the globe. As a passionate sportsman and explorer, he has combined his interests with raising funds for various charities around the world. He has completed many ultra-marathon and endurance events as well as more light-hearted fundraisers such as bartending competitions and bingo nights. Ollie is now in the UK having previously spent ten years in Hong Kong. During this time, he visited Cambodia regularly and became aware of the poverty and challenges. He is passionate about making change through education and career opportunity.
Maurice Moynihan
Board Member – The Netherlands
Maurice is an Irish expat living in The Netherlands. Having completed his postgrad in IT, he has since worked in the area of Intellectual Property for over 20 years. He is regarded as an expert in the patenting of FinTech, giving training and workshops around the world. Maurice first got involved with REACH as a sponsor 2 years ago. Having seen the incredible work Emily and her team have so far achieved with the families in Siem Reap, he was keen to get more involved and draw upon his professional network in a role with the advisory board. We can’t change the world alone, but together, we make a difference to the lives of the children of Siem Reap!
Daniel Copsey
Chairperson – Australia
Daniel Copsey is a business leader with exciting projects in a range of industries. He opens the lines of communication between clients, customers, and businesses to get great ideas off the ground and reach their potential. Through reputation and diligence in practice, he has attracted a talented team that drives his global marketing agencies to break the bounds of agency experiences. Having met in university, Dan saw Emily’s vision and has been inspired by the mission, values, and potential for catalytic impact. He has unyieldingly worked on the conception and realisation of many businesses and is excited to be appointed as an advisory board member for REACH Siem Reap. Dan has been involved from the beginnings of REACH and would tell anyone that they’d be hard-pressed to find a more impactful charity, or families more worthy of our support.
Ian Hayllor
Board Member – Australia
lan grew up on a farm in Devon, England and travelled to Australia in 1980 for a six month working holiday with plans to travel to Canada on the way back to the UK. He fell in love with Australia's beautiful countryside and lifestyle. Ian & Deb purchased their first farm in partnership with a UK farmer in 1982, the business has expanded over the last 40 years and they are about to hand the business to their son Daniel. lan has always been interested in making his business as environmentally and economically sustainable as possible and has invested a lot of time trying to achieve these goals. Ian visited Cambodia in 2017 and was amazed at how helpful and friendly the people of Cambodia were, but was saddened to see how tough it was for many families who lived in poverty. When looking for a charity ride to join in Cambodia, Emily's name appeared and after a long wait he joined the 2023 Charity ride, met Emily, her team and became involved in the most amazing Charity project that is helping improve so many lives. After spending a short time at REACH lan could see how love, education and healthcare is improving the lives of the children and their families in their care.
Götz Boué
Board Member – Germany
Götz Boué has founded and managed a number of technology companies in Europe. Working with customers across many industries his focus has been to help organisations to reap significant benefits by deploying technical solutions. As a business leader he has successfully built great teams to drive growth and customer loyalty. Götz first visited Siem Reap in 2012 and has helped support a bamboo plantation initiative, with the aim of providing a natural resource for manufacturing at local level and local employment. In his advisory role, Götz will become more actively involved in supporting REACH and aiding the families in need.
Dave Richter
Board Member – United States
Dave Richter recently retired after a 30+ year career in international benefits and travel risk management consulting. He most recently worked at Gallagher Benefits Services as the Area Senior Vice President in the Global Risk Solutions Center of Excellence. Prior to merging with Gallagher in October 2018, Dave was President and founder of Richter International Consulting LLC, a benefits brokering and consulting firm established in 2002 that specialized in Duty of Care solutions for clients. Mr. Richter’s previous work experience includes seven years with the US-China Business Council, five years with the trading company, WJS, Inc., and eight years with Asia Emergency Assistance, a company that provides 24/7 global medical and security assistance services. He held overseas positions with all three companies. At Richter International Consulting and continuing at Gallagher, Dave’s clients ranged from Fortune 50 companies to NGOs and Non-Profits. The company’s focus on creative and cost-effective benefits solutions was a good fit for both, leveraging his hands-on international experience to help clients meet their Duty of Care responsibilities. Dave has a B.A. in Chinese History from Swarthmore College, and an M.A. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He was one of the first Americans to study in China after normalization of relations in December 1979, and is fluent in Mandarin. Beginning in 2003, Dave led annual house building trips to Cambodia for the Tabitha Foundation, a charity that works with the poorest of the poor in that country. He joined the Tabitha board in 2005 and assisted with fundraising in addition to leading the house building trips. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Hamomi Children’s Centre, a nonprofit based in Nairobi, Kenya that was dedicated to improving the lives of 125 orphaned and vulnerable children. Dave met Emily in Siem Reap in January 2024 and was impressed with REACH and its mission. He is excited to join the Advisory Board and bring his experience to the table in support of REACH Siem Reap’s mission.
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