The Vietnam Foundation (VNF) is a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in Washington D.C., USA, with a mission of improving the lives of the Vietnamese people through education. Founded in 2008 by Mr. Kien Pham and Dr. H. Ray Gamble, The Vietnam Foundation aims to reduce the gap between the rising educational needs and the limited education system of Vietnam by leveraging the power of technological innovations.
In the early days, The Vietnam Foundation, through its work with the U.S. National Academies, utilized the expertise of the U.S. academic community in efforts to elevate the quality of higher education in Vietnam. The most notable project stemming from these efforts is the Vietnam Open Educational Resources project (VOER), which supports free, high-quality online learning resources for Vietnamese students and professors. The VOER website attracted 100.000 users per day at its peak and became a topic of discussion at the UNESCO’s Expert Group Meeting in 2011, where its program director – Mr. Minh Do – delivered his presentation on the development of OER in Vietnam.
At the same time, The Vietnam Foundation has always strived to lift up the disadvantaged community, specifically the visually impaired, by enhancing the quality of their education. Its contribution includes setting up and maintaining a community center for the Audio Books Library, and providing over 100 scholarships and 20 laptops annually.
Starting from 2017, VEF 2.0 Program, an initiative built on the premise of the US government organization Vietnam Education Foundation’s activities, was activated. The program offered a rigorous selection process to recommend the best candidates to U.S. graduate schools by emulating the VEF interview and selection process with the voluntary service from VEF Alumni and a network of leading American professors. This on-going program is bound to create the next generation of scientists and engineers for Vietnam.
In its most recent program, The Vietnam Foundation attempts to make a larger impact on the Vietnamese education system by localizing Khan Academy, the world’s leading free online learning platform, into Vietnamese. The program’s vision is to provide 22 million Vietnamese students with access to free, world-class educational contents on Khan Academy.
