Our Team

Shu Tan - Founder

• Born in Lao Chai village, Sapa
• As a child street seller she saw first-hand the problems facing her ethnic minority community
• Dreamed of helping young people like herself to go to school and set up their own businesses
• In 2007 she developed the concept of Sapa O’Chau with 4 Australian friends
• Her enthusiasm & dedication has inspired people from Vietnam and around the world to help her with her mission
• Today a 28-year old social entrepreneur making her dreams come true

Cau Thao - Director

• Born in Hau Thao commune, Sapa
• Studied teaching at university in Hanoi
• Speaks Chinese and holds a National Tour Guide License
• Worked for the Government and Police on identifying and delivering required assistance to the various ethnic minority groups within the region
• 6 years working for UNICEF
• Joined Sapa O'Chau in 2013 as legal representative for Sapa O’Chau
• Major asset in developing the administration of Sapa O’Chau 

Dung Cu - Board Member

• Born in Yen Bai, but calls Lao Cai City her real home
• Studied journalism at university
• A presenter and reporter for VTV5
• Deep understanding of the various ethnic minority groups has made her a respected voice within the community
• Joined Sapa O’Chau in 2010 and has focused on Domestic Public Relations
• Passionate about the long term growth and personal development of each student

Dung Ha - Tour Operations Manager

• Born in Yen Bai and came to Sapa in 2007
• Studied teaching at university before gaining 12-years experience within the hotel & tourism industry
• Joined Sapa O’Chau in 2013
• As Tour Operations Manager she has developed a professional service
• Assistant Volunteer Manager organising placements and sharing cultural stories with the volunteers
• Passion for teaching the students to be curious about the outside world

Trang Tran - Accountant

• Born in Yen Bai but moved to Sapa when she was just 6-years-old
• Studied accountancy at the Phú Châu Vocational College in Lao Cai
• Joined Sapa O’Chau in 2013
• Main tasks are Bookkeeping and Financial Reporting, but can even be found in the kitchen making pancakes!
• Loves the people and the friendly atmosphere of Sapa O’Chau
• Her dream is to develop her career, get married and have cute children

Jackie Sales

Jackie has known Shu Tan since 2002 when she lived in Sapa as a volunteer English teacher. Jackie lived in Sapa with three other Australian girls and taught local Vietnamese, Hmong and Tay children. Jackie has maintained a connection to Sapa since that time and in 2007 the four girls travelled back to Sapa together. During that visit the concept of Sapa O'Chau was created with Shu. Over the next couple of years the Australian girls assisted Shu to establish the first Hmong run homestay in the Sapa region, and worked with Shu to create the original website and logo for Sapa O'Chau. Jackie now lives in Newcastle, Australia and works as a lawyer for a legal aid organisation.

Sarah Turner

Sarah teaches development geography at McGill University, Canada, and has been doing fieldwork in northern upland Vietnam since 1998. She works with Hmong and Yao ethnic minority communities to better understand their livelihoods and day-to-day agricultural and trade decision making. Her hope is that better informed state and non-state organisations will then make more locally-relevant upland development policy decisions. She assists Sapa O’Chau to gain funding via grant writing, helps co-ordinate the Advisory Group, and tries to support the directors via brainstorming sessions when needed.

Patricia Lee

Patricia is from the United States, and visited Sapa O’Chau in August of 2010 while working in the Mekong Delta. She became involved with Sapa O’Chau as a grant writer and organizational advisor in the summer of 2011. She is currently a Project Officer with Perkins International providing oversight of programmatic education and training efforts in countries around the world. Her past experience includes increasing organizational capacity for monitoring and evaluation in Sierra Leone; developing an education program in Hau Giang Province, Vietnam; and teaching English in South Korea as a Fulbright grantee. Patricia holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Minnesota with expertise in program evaluation, program/organizational management, and grant writing.

Sue West

Sue from Melbourne Australia has a long background in the financial sector and currently works as a trainer in that sector. Sue spent one year as an English tutor to migrants in 2010-2011 and taught English in Vietnam for ten months in 2011-2012. Two of those months were spent teaching and assisting with business development at Sapa O’Chau. Sue has maintained her support for Sapa O’Chau by continuing with the SOC Advisory Group.