Prior to SVA: I went abroad to work in Vietnam for six years, immersed in the world of social enterprise, charities, street youth, hospitality, funding, individual change, intense coffee, motorbikes, rice paddies…

At SVA I’ve learnt: systemic change, innovative financial models for NFPs, acronyms, using the photocopier, research skills, marketing, fluent thinking, patience, and to set the bar much higher.

Things I’ve discovered: Australia is big. Big buildings, big portions, big issues, big people, big ideas and big hearts (re: big buildings- the one across from SVA can probably fit the whole population of Ho Chi Minh City in there).

SVA staff are: always striving for excellence, beautiful people.

Summary of experience: Thiên thời, địa lợi, nhân hòa – a Vietnamese proverb for ‘right time, right place, right people’.

[Yen Tran interned with SVA’s Marketing & Partnerships team for nine weeks over May, June and July 2014]