Who we are
What we do
At Shift360, we make our vision a reality by working towards a common good through job creation and skills empowerment that improves the livelihood and dignity of vulnerable people in the Greater Mekong Subregion.
Shift360 is the product of more than 20 years of experience in Asia building successful social programs and high-impact businesses. We believe human dignity is fundamental to development and seek to compliment the work of the humanitarian sector as it focuses on social-inclusive economic development.
Working in tandem with governments, civil society and the not-for-profit and private sectors, we generate gainful employment, develop human capital and influence decision makers.
We create environments in which social businesses and innovative initiatives can thrive and support social entrepreneurs, governments, philanthropists and organizations in generating high-impact solutions to social issues.
During our two decades of experience working in Asia, we have established strong networks of relationship in the region to draw from as we identify investable ventures, facilitate market entry, and provide support for entrepreneurs to turn investments into sound social businesses.
Our work is underpinned by strong passion to see businesses, ventures and new initiatives drive social justice and real change in their environments. With each new venture, we balance the intrinsic value of benefits to individuals with the commercial challenges of achieving scale.
Our Goals
Market based solutions to address social inequalities
Gainful Employment
OUR FINANCIAL CAPITAL GOAL
Around the world, men, women and youth are in search of employment. Today, there are an estimated 1.2 billion youth aged 15 to 24 in the world. They comprise 17% of the world’s population and 40% of the world’s unemployed. [1] While this pursuit to find work may begin with the need to support family, ultimately, finding and keeping a job is much more than a pay cheque and putting food on the table.
Dignified, sustainable work has the potential to educate children, to provide a social safety, and to reduce poverty. It builds respect, dignity and resilience among individuals and can help entire communities achieve their potential.
In 2010, 357.7 million youth did not access education, employment or training. Realizing the untapped potential of youth is critical. As the financial crisis becomes a socio-economic crisis, youth are greatly impacted. As the debt burden increases, as fewer jobs are available, and as quality of life decreases, resentment among youth and a mistrust of existing institutions, corporations and governments has deepened.
At Shift360, we understand that gainful employment – sustainable, decent work – is a critical response to social inequality. We also recognize the role young people can play in creating and innovating change. That’s why we invest in and support high impact and promising businesses and training centres – because they create and maintain work for women, men and youth that ultimately enables them to help themselves.
[1] WEF. Global Agenda, Youth Employment.
Economic Growth
OUR HUMAN CAPITAL GOAL
“Despite notable improvements in recent years, Cambodia faces significant challenges in building a strong human capital base and a skilled workforce responsive to its labour market needs.” (Labour and Social Trends Cambodia, 2010)
At Shift360, we value people and know that human capital is the key to transforming economies and societies. Knowledge, creativity, and social and personal attributes of individuals and communities can bring about change.
This is why we invest in developing people through education and skills training.
In Cambodia, Shift360 has been instrumental in casting a new vision for the country’s hospitality sector. The Academy of Culinary Arts – Cambodia (ACAC) is the first institution of its kind in the country and the nation’s first Public-Private partnership. Government and business have come together to forge new opportunities for Cambodia’s workforce that will help develop the technical skills necessary to compete effectively in the growing hospitality sector in Southeast Asia.
Our Vision
Restore Human Dignity by Facilitating Fair and Sustainable Economic Opportunities in the Greater Mekong Subregion(GMS)
The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is an emerging economic area bound together by the Mekong River. The GMS covers about 2.6 million square kilometers and has a combined population of roughly 326 million people. It is one of the most dynamic regions in the world and has witnessed rapid economic growth over the past two decades. The GMS countries consist of Cambodia, Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the People’s Republic of China (PR China), Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
Our Values
Our strong commitment to seeking social justice through the work that we do, comes from a set of values that are intrinsic to the way that we approach our mission. Our values are the fundamental building blocks to the work that we do.
In every area of our work, we pursue:
Leadership:
We are willing to take risks in order to see positive change.
Innovation:
We always seek new and smarter ways of doing things.
Collaboration:
In each initiative we undertake, we look for partners in every sector.
Patience:
We take a long term-view of success.
Humility:
We take a long term-view of success.
Excellence:
We will not compromise quality for quantity in our work.
Integrity:
We place the highest emphasis on integrity in our interactions, our investments and our business dealings.
Our People
Ouch Chansoleak, Interim Director
Born and raised in Cambodia, Chansoleak Ouch graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Associate Degree in Banking. Chansoleak has over 17 years of successive leadership experience in Administration & Operations for local and international companies.
Having been involved in the organization for over nine years, Soleak is responsible for administration, operations, accounting, general affairs, and human resources. She was recently promoted from Director of Operations to Interim Director, with the aim of using her experiences and expertise to help organizations through transition periods.
Thierry Noyelle, Senior Advisor
Born and raised in France, Thierry moved to the US in the early 1970s as a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Following graduation, he joined the Eisenhower Center at Columbia University in New York. While there, he carried out public policy research in a wide range of topics including human resources and labor economics, productivity, economic development, and international trade. Some of his work included multi-country research projects on technical education and adult literacy for the OECD’s Center for Educational Research and Innovation.
Thierry got involved in international development assistance in the mid-1980s, while at Columbia University, initially to support developing countries during the Uruguay Round trade negotiations and the Government of Mexico in the NAFTA negotiations. Following a two-year full-time engagement as an Inter-Regional Advisor with the UN Center on Transnational Corporations in the early 1990s, Thierry decided to work full time as an independent technical assistance expert. Since then, he has provided technical, management, project design, and fund-raising expertise on a wide range of development projects in well over 60 developing countries primarily in sub-Saharan Africa as well as South, South East, and East Asia.
Thierry has worked on various development projects as an expert, team leader, or manager in Cambodia since the late 1990s. He started working with Shift 360 in 2013 to assist Pierre Tami in raising initial funding for the Academy of Culinary Arts – Cambodia (ACAC) from the World Trade Organization and the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida.) Over time, his involvement with Shift 360 has evolved to assist with new project development, Shift 360 and ACAC financial oversight, reporting to donors, as well as a variety of other tasks. Thierry shares Shift 360’s value that one of the most rewarding personal accomplishments in technical assistance is to contribute to the growth and success of younger people through training, mentoring, and upskilling.
Thierry holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Université de Lyon II, a Masters’s in Engineering from the Ecole Centrale de Lyon, and a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. When not traveling overseas or working online to assist on projects, he enjoys woodworking and gardening at his 1842 farm in the Catskills Mountains of Upstate New York which he shares with his singer-songwriter-composer wife.
Our Board
Peter Bachmann
President of the Board Pro Fair Trade AG, Switzerland
Born in 1949, Mr. Peter Bachmann has a degree in Business and Economics and is a retired Major of the Swiss Army. He is currently the owner and president of the board of three Swiss known food businesses such as Pro Fair Trade AG, Ceres Food AG and Lucarna-Macana AG. Peter is married and lives in Matzingen. He also chairs a number of other food industry businesses in Switzerland and Germany.
Edy Fischer
Partner Niggemann, Fisher & Partner LLC Switzerland
Born in 1951, Edy Fischer studied Business Administration at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, followed by a basic education as a chartered accountant. He then started to work at KPMG Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. Zurich (auditing, corporate consulting) for four years, followed by ten years in the management of Gate Gourmet International AG, Zurich (today’s Gate Group). Subsequently, he took over the management of a start-up company, Rail Gourmet Group, and successfully built the company within 12 years into profitable international market player. In 2007 he become a partner in the Swiss subsidiary Niggemann, Fischer & Partner LLC (Zollikon), a German family owned Merger & Acquisition Boutique. He also holds different active Director and Board memberships in Switzerland and abroad.
Christoph Mahler
GM and CEO of Private Wealth Advisory AG (PWA) – Switzerland
Mr. Christoph Mahler is Chairman & CEO of PWA Private Wealth Advisory AG, a Multi Family Office with headquaters in Zug, Switzerland. Mr. Mahler has over 15 years of experience in Wealth Planning & Structuring, Insurance, Wealth Management and Lending. Prior to founding PWA, Mr. Mahler worked at Credit Suisse AG in Dubai and Switzerland in the role of Senior Management where he was responsible to serve the complex needs of Ultra High Net-Worth Clients (UHNWI). Prior to that, Mr. Mahler worked as Certified Financial Planner for Credit Suisse Switzerland giving Private Banking Clients and Entrepreneurs comprehensive financial advice. Prior to that Mr. Mahler had different roles with Winterthur Insurance and VZ VermögensZentrum, Switzerland.
Mr. Mahler received his MBA in Business Administration from Chicago University, School of Business (Chicago Booth), United States and his Master of Law from Zurich University, Switzerland. In addition Mr. Mahler holds an Executive Master in Financial Consulting from the Zurich University of Applied Science, Winterthur, Switzerland.
Pierre Tami
Social Entrepreneur
Originally from Switzerland, Pierre Tami is a social entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in Asia.
Since the early 1990’s, Pierre has worked in Cambodia where he founded Hagar, an organization providing social rehabilitation programs and commercial businesses for victims of abuse, violence, and trafficking.
Now, Pierre leads Shift360, which facilitates fair and sustainable economic opportunities for the youth of Cambodia. He is also the founder of the Academy of Culinary Arts Cambodia. Additionally, Pierre is co-owner of a number of food and beverage businesses in Phnom Penh.
Pierre is currently the vice chairman of the International Business Chamber of Cambodia (IBC) and serves as the Personal Adviser to the Prime Minister of Cambodia. He has been a member of the World Economic Forum’s Schwab Foundation as a social entrepreneur since 2004.
Over the years, Pierre has received numerous awards including recognition by former US Secretary of State, Colin Powell; Officer of the Royal Order of Sahametrei by the Cambodian King; the Brandenberger Prize; and four gold medals by Prime Minister Hun Sen for the “work of reconstruction” in the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Pierre is married and has three daughters and three grandchildren.
Sharihan Al Mashary
– First Female Emirati General Manager UAE and Middle East Region
– Award-Winning Emirati Hospitality Leader
– Hospitality Senior Executive
– Hotelier Middle East 25 Women In Hospitality Powerlist
– Award winning Emarati Young Leader and Woman Achiever Awardee
– Board Director Shift360
– Asia Society Young Leader
– UAE Team Chief Expert for Emirates Skills
– WorldSkills International UAE Expert
Magnus Saemundsson
Former Senior Education Specialist
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) – Cambodia
Magnus has been living in Cambodia since 2015 and is a former Senior Education Specialist with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) since 2006, based in Cambodia. He initially worked as a secondary school teacher and lecturer in Sweden before transitioning to the Swedish National Agency for Education.
He has been engaged in education development at preschool, primary, and secondary levels, as well as higher education and skills training.
He has worked extensively with education development in Cambodia and Laos as well as on European, Nordic, and Swedish national levels.
He has worked closely with UNESCO, UNICEF, and the European Union.
Giuliana Morosoli
Marketing consultant
Giuliana Morosoli is a marketing consultant with several years of expertise in using marketing techniques to drive organizational success. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Management from École Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) Hospitality Business School and a master’s degree in Luxury Business Management from EU Business School. Giuliana has experience working with multinational companies, including Bank Julius Baer in Singapore and Credit Suisse AG in Zurich, where she worked as a Marketing Project Manager for the Aviation & Yacht Finance department and the Latin American market. She developed her passion for creating elite client experiences while working at Grupo Mundomex in Mexico City, where she led different projects around the globe during exclusive sports events such as Super Bowls, Formula 1 races, and FIFA World Cups. She has a demonstrated track record of building trusting connections with senior executives and fostering new business growth. She always enjoyed supporting her community by participating in volunteering activities such as visiting emergency refugee centres (NUK) in Zurich and aiding malnourished children in Guerrero, Mexico with Nutre a un Niño S.A. She is renowned for her creativity, strategic thinking skills, and attention to detail. She is fluent in several languages, including Italian, French, Spanish, English, and German. In her free time, Giuliana enjoys Birkram yoga and traveling the world.
Your donation helps empowering young people by providing a professional training and thus gives them hope for their future.
Influencing Decision Makers
OUR SOCIAL CAPITAL GOAL
At Shift360, we understand that we don’t operate in a vacuum. As a global society, the lives of individual people and communities are impacted by the decisions of global leaders the world over. Thus, we believe in dialogue, relationships and thus networking with all the players; by doing so we raise awareness of key social issues through forums, conferences, and the media in order to improve freedom and prosperity. Some of the platforms where we interact are World Economic Forum, the Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneurs meetings, Chambers of Commerce and international conferences.