In the heart of Cambodia, a transformative project is quietly reshaping lives. Ben Beck, BYU Marriott assistant professor of marketing and global supply chain, is working with students and colleagues to empower business owners through financial literacy, growth mindset, and gender-equality training.
The undertaking, named The Cambodia Project, has two phases under its belt, and Beck foresees another decade of trainings and associated research. In the project’s first phase, 40 entrepreneurs in Battambang, Cambodia, participated in a revenue-tracking workshop, then logged their finances during an eight-week period. “It was neat to see that a simple one-hour training paired with follow-up mentoring showed statistical significance in participants saving their income,” Beck says.
The experience boosted entrepreneurs’ savings and their confidence. “No one’s ever given me anything like this before,” one street vendor said with tears in his eyes. “Because of this training, I now know that I can control my money. My money doesn’t control me.”
The team also saw a positive shift in growth mindset. “Cambodians have been downtrodden from years and years of political instability, and they’re in a fixed mindset overall,” Beck continues. “Our small training moved that needle considerably—there was a 17 percent increase in growth mindset.”
In the second phase, the research team selected 100 business owners in Siem Reap, Cambodia, to participate in five classes lasting two hours each. These workshops provided in-depth lessons on business strategy and goal setting, which included embedded training by Oxfam International on gender equality in the home and in the community.
“By combining gender-equality initiatives with business skills, the project empowers communities, fostering resilience and growth that will benefit generations to come,” says Kyli Fox Soug, a former research assistant to Beck and recent BYU sociology graduate. “Each step felt purposeful to our mission of ending domestic violence through business education and community engagement.”
Throughout the process, the BYU team worked closely with Cambodian contractors—trainers, researchers, and nonprofit partners. “Their insights into local issues and culture gave our work both validity and strength,” Soug emphasizes. “It is impossible to do this kind of work without support and active participation from people we aim to serve.”
Seeds for the project were planted in 2017 when Beck traveled to Cambodia as a student on a BYU Marriott executive MBA excursion and noticed the Cambodians’ extraordinary kindness. “They have a greeting where they clasp their hands and bow,” Beck says. “Even though they’re not highly religious, they have the light of Christ.”
Kickstarted by donations from EMBA alumni who participated in the 2017 trip, the project has fostered resilience and hope. “By the end of the trainings, there was something bigger than financial opportunity for the business owners,” says research assistant Christian Pearson, a junior from Boise, Idaho, studying marketing. “It was meaningful to see how investing just a little bit in people can completely change their lives.”
That deeper outcome uplifts everyone involved. “The Cambodia Project gives me purpose, which has also shaped me as a future leader,” Pearson says. “It’s given me confidence because I’m working for something bigger than myself.”
To follow the project’s progress, tune in to its companion podcast, The Cambodia Project.
______
This article is published on page 8 of BYU Marriott's 2024 Annual Report.