Hout Somaly, a 31-year-old Naomi Tami Memorial Scholarship Fund scholar graduated from the Academy of Culinary Arts Cambodia (ACAC) in 2020. She recently spoke at a session at the RewirED Summit, organized by Dubai Cares and in partnership with Expo 2020 Dubai. Dubai Cares asked ACAC to recommend a participant, and Somaly was chosen as she was an outstanding student and served her ACAC internship in Dubai.

The Summit focused on three key areas in education globally: youth, skills and the future of work; innovation in education; and education financing. The Summit brought together education stakeholders including educationalists and front liners, policy makers, youth, the private sector, international organizations, and foundations, among others together in one place for three days to engage in discussions, panels, hands-on workshops, and to launch exciting initiatives and experiments, and much more.

Somaly’s session was titled “how to skill the workforce for sustainable, gender equal tourism.” The event organizers shared the following: “Tourism has a strong track record in youth employment and entrepreneurship. Hard-hit by COVID-19, a structural transformation is now needed for a responsible, sustainable, and resilient tourism economy, where young men and women find fulfilling and dignifying work. This session discusses forward-looking solutions for skilling for sustainable, gender equal tourism.”

Together with the other panelists Somaly contributed to the discussion, and answered questions with a focus on her experience as a woman working in the hospitality industry.

Read about the RewirED Summit here: https://www.rewired2021.com/

Learn more about the Naomi Tami Memorial Scholarship Fund: https://www.naomimemorialfund.com/

You can visit the Academy of Culinary Arts Cambodia online here: https://acac.edu.kh/