Lindsay Doucette
| Year Joined MKLM: 2009 Country: Cambodia City: Phnom Penh Focus: Education, Sustainable Development Project(s): Personal Development/ Career Advising, Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) People Served: 500+ Students |
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Project Goal(s): Provide the support services students need to plan, pursue and begin a rewarding career upon graduation. These services include: one-on-one advising, workshops on leadership and personal development, opportunities to volunteer or intern within their field, practice interviews and job placement.
Personal Data
Lindsay joined MKLM in 2009 from Indianapolis, Indiana and the Lafayette Diocese. Her hometown parish is Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Carmel, Indiana. She earned her B.A. in International Studies and Spanish at Butler University and a Master of Public Affairs: Non-profit Management degree from Indiana University. Prior to joining MKLM, Lindsay completed a semester abroad in Lima, Peru, provided a year of national service as an AmeriCorps VISTA and worked for three years as the Program Director for Indiana Campus Compact, promoting civic engagement in higher education.
Current Ministry
Cambodia is one of the youngest countries of the Asia-Pacific region, with 60 percent of the population younger than 24 years of age. These youth, born in the aftermath of the destructive Pol Pot regime, are now attempting to enter the labor market in incredible numbers. Whether this sizeable young labor force will be a boon or a burden will depend to a large extent on their opportunities to gain skills that will be rewarded within the labor market. It is crucial for the country’s continued growth that these youth receive the support and training needed to put their talents and abilities to good use. Employers in Cambodia report a significant skills gap among young people entering the workforce and call on higher education providers to equip students with problem-solving skills and the proactive attitude necessary for success in future employment.
Lindsay’s ministry in Cambodia aims to address this skills gap among university students. She works on the campus of the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), a public university providing scholarships to high-achieving but resource-poor students from the Cambodian countryside. The idea of providing advising and support services at the university level is one that has not yet caught on in Cambodia. For this reason Lindsay has found students to be very responsive to programs in career planning and personal development.
The majority of the young people Lindsay meets come from very large, poor families with anywhere from 6 to 10 children. The students who make it to the university on scholarship are very bright and are under tremendous pressure to support their families. Often Cambodian families aren’t able to send all of their children through school which means those youth able to attend college are expected to be the main breadwinners.
In working with this age group, Lindsay offers workshops for students to: increase their self-knowledge (understanding personal strengths, weaknesses, interests and goals); develop much needed skills for employment (problem-solving, critical thinking, decision-making, proactive learning); and develop skills for finding work and analyzing future fit of job opportunities.
Lindsay partners with workforce and youth empowerment organizations throughout the city of Phnom Penh; she teaches a course in English for Employment at RUPP and works to create partnerships for RUPP student employment, internship placement, volunteerism and leadership. Lindsay is very happy to serve the young people of Cambodia and finds a great deal of hope for the country’s future in the many bright and dedicated students she meets each day.
