RMIT alumnus and Chevening scholar sets her heart on design for social good

From a heart full of gratitude

Dreaming of a brighter future was a luxury for the Bachelor of Design (Multimedia Design) graduate who lived in a tiny boat along one of the small canals in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, and later was all by herself after both her parents and grandmother passed away when she was very young.

That couldn’t stop the young girl from heading for the light.

Yen started to dream about her future and learnt about something called ‘design’ after receiving a life-changing compliment from a documentary filmmaker and social activist Leslie Wiener.

“You are a great designer” was what Ms Wiener told Yen when she was amazed by how the 10-year-old girl created a toy house from wastepaper and used plastic bags.

And Yen’s diligence and eagerness to learn impressed not only volunteer teachers and donors, but also RMIT Vietnam’s Scholarship Committee.

Yen made the most out of every moment at RMIT Vietnam and showed an amazing transformation since receiving one of the first three RMIT Opportunity Scholarships in 2014.

To the pay-it-forward aspiration

“What are my values in the [design] industry?” has been the question that kept Yen up at night for many years.

The answer started to emerge when Yen worked at OUCRU as a Media and Communication Coordinator where she had a chance to develop and lead public engagement projects and experienced first-hand how her work can be impactful and beneficial to the community.

“As I lost my parents to one of the social issues, the healthcare sector always draws my attention,” Yen shared.

“During the pandemic, I spearheaded two major social campaigns, including the COVID-19 Digital Diaries and #I’mVaccinated, which made me realise the gap in media and communication capacity that I can help to close."

With the COVID-19 Digital Diaries initiative, by being a leader who could connect and empathise with others, Yen enabled the production of 40 participatory documentaries that gave marginalised communities a voice, which resulted in more financial and medical support for them.

Meanwhile, through the social media campaign -- #I’mVaccinated, Yen together with her team reached over 80,000 young audiences and produced short informative videos and podcasts about getting COVID-19 vaccine to engage the older population, which all boosted the vaccination rate significantly.

“The involvement in those impactful campaigns helped me clearly define my core values of design for the social good, not just any product,” Yen said.

“I want to become a liaison who facilitates the connection between healthcare professionals and people in the community. Particularly, I want to become a media and communications specialist who can take the academic, and sometimes, dry information from healthcare professionals and researchers and translate them into content that the masses can easily digest and remember, ultimately influencing people to change in ways that benefit our community.”