ABOUT CEF

THE CEF TEAM

The CEF Team

Linda Burn
Founding Director and In-Country Manager - Vietnam

CEF spontaneously arose out of a need I saw in Vietnam to help girls receive an education and have the opportunity of tertiary education or vocational training. I wanted to see them have a life with choices, not the limited one I saw of poverty and the resultant grinding daily struggle with no obvious way out.
Poverty sometimes leads to parents taking desperate measures, consciously and sometimes not. Daughters are sold off for a tidy sum, into arranged marriages where they are abused.  Girls are tempted by well-paid job in China, and although promised a bright future, end up being a prostitute in a brothel or enslaved in a factory. A girl in school has less chance of this happening to her.
This desire to help females from impoverished or marginalized communities still exists for me today 13 years later, and maybe even more strongly than in the past, as I now have seen the difference an education makes here. We have the joy of seeing many complete school, and now we have 12 who have graduated from college or university. There is no turning back.

Graeme Burn
CEO Australia, In-Country Manager - Australia

I first went to Vietnam over 10 years ago. Through subsequent visits I have seen the pride and joy the children take in their schooling and the belief parents have in its value. Working for CEF means I can help children and their parents to fulfill their longing to grow and develop through education.
Going to school. It’s so much part of our growing up. It can be inspiring, boring. We make lifelong friends there and discover what we want to do and what we don’t. In Viet Nam going to school does all of this of course, but for girls in that country it can, literally, be a lifesaver. In the poorer more remote areas it gives safety, protection from exploitation. School gives young women a much better chance of breaking out of their sometimes desperate situations to do more with their lives and for their families than their parents were able to do.  
That’s why I am working for CEF. And after helping Linda and her team for 13 years I have seen with my own eyes that when young women complete their education things change for them and their families in tangible ways.  
I’m very much looking forward to another 13 years!

With our CEF staff -  
Thuy, Vy,  Kim Chi and 
Ngoc and Linda

CEF is lucky to have sweet, compassionate, caring  and intelligent staff.  
Ngoc has been with CEF for six years and came straight out of university into NGO work. She has learned so much so quickly and has taken on a great deal of responsibility. She is lovely with the children and has a ready smile and laugh. 
Kim Chi has been with CEF for close to six years and also came straight from university. She is passionate about helping children from poor families have the opportunity of an education. She is very caring and has a creative mind that is very good at finding solutions for challenges we face.
And Thuy Tran has been with us for four years. She came with NGO experience and we are grateful for her knowledge and confidence that has come from it. She is wonderful with the children,  caring, gentle and sweet. 
​Thuy Dinh has worked for CEF for  three years. She's been very caring and will be leaving  soon to do NGO studies as she loves this field.
Lua has changed careers from tourism to NGO work and is very happy with this shift. She's very sweet with the children and is like a mother, or second mother for many of them.  
Dung, our newest staff member has wanted an NGO job for some time, and is thrilled to be working with us. We all knew her as she is friends with three of the staff and has volunteered when we have run workshops. 
They all work well together and care greatly about the children and their families.

Board of Directors

Linda Burn
Previous: Lifestyle Consultant, Vegetarian Cooking Teacher, ran Culinary Tours in Vietnam, Culinary Consultant & Vietnam Tour Consultant.
Present: In-Country Manager - Children's Education Foundation in Vietnam.
Current: NGO volunteer and language teacher and language consultant.

Graeme Burn M Ed
Previous: 40 years as a teacher and teacher trainer in English as a foreign language and as English language examinations manager University of Technology, Sydney.
Current: English language examinations manager University of Technology, Sydney.

Brian Kuhl
Previous:  46 years in public service, New South Wales and Northern Territory Governments; the last 20 years of which in middle and senior management positions, with a finance/business management emphasis.
Current:  Active volunteering roles with CEF and another grassroots NGO in Cambodia.  Similarly, supporting Carers Australia (NT. Branch) and Foodbank Australia (NT Branch).

Pam Moreton
Previous: Health care professional and President of the Morisset Psychiatric Hospital Branch of the Health Services Union.
Current: working at Morisset Psychiatric Hospital in the clinical rehabilitation unit as an occupational therapy assistant supporting clients experiencing chronic mental health.

Liz Tran
Current: Since graduating from university  Liz has been working as a Clinical Pharmacist for 20 years at Westmead Hospital, Sydney. This is a principal referral hospital in one of the most socioeconomically and culturally diverse districts in Australia. 

Janine Drummond
Previous:  Employed for 17 years as a hospital assistant at Morisset Hospital, Central Coast, NSW.
Currently: working as a Security Officer in the surveillance office of a medium secure unit within the grounds of the Morisset Psychiatric Facility, NSW.

Kay McCutcheon
Prior: Sales Representative for local real estate agent. 
Current: Self -employed Office Manager, and Director for the past 16 years, of Advanced Fastener Specialists.
Since I visited Vietnam some years back I  felt  I wanted to contribute my time and energy to raise funds to help support Vietnamese to make their lives easier and happier.