Bio: Nguyen Thi Thanh Tam – Vietnam
Tam has been a lecturer of public administration in Ben Tre School of Politics which trains key officials, managers and leaders who currently work for governmental agencies, political and social organizations in Ben Tre province, Vietnam. In this role, she has also cooperated with the Vietnam Women’s Union in the province to organize training courses for hundreds of female managers and leaders in the local area. “I believe when women gain knowledge and skills, they will find the way to transfer it in their real life,” Tam says.
Working in the school for 7 years, she has lectured on Management in Education and Culture, and Human Resource Development Policy. She has trained provincial government staff to share scientific research regarding public administration to those working at the grassroots level. She also directed the Information and Foreign Languages Department and created a project, “Applying Information Technology in Public Administration.” She volunteered to teach English for free for many civil servants.
In addition to her desire to be an excellent teacher and to work for pubic policy reform, Tam also has a passion for community service. As a youth leader in the Vietnam Student Association in her university she organized activities for youth in the Mekong River Delta in South Vietnam. In 2006, she was among outstanding young leaders selected to participate in the Ship for South East Asia Youth Program supported by the Government of Japan which contributed to promoting and strengthening mutual understanding and friendship among the youth of South East Asian countries and Japan. “This program changed my world view and broadened my vision,” Tam notes.
In 2011, she was accepted as a Hubert Humphrey Fellow, a program supported by the U.S. Department of State. During this fellowship year Tam engaged in graduate-level academic courses at University of Washington, professional development activities, participation in many community activities and forums, and a successful professional affiliation at the Center for Creative Change at Antioch University in Seattle.