KOTO stands for Know One, Teach One - learning should be passed on; knowledge is meant to be shared. This is the essential idea of KOTO’s Vietnamese-Australian founder, Jimmy Pham.
In 1999, Mr Jimmy opened a hospitality training centre in Hanoi, giving at-risk and disadvantaged youth the opportunity to break the poverty cycle by forging a better future for themselves, their families and their communities.
Twenty-two years later, our over 1,200 graduates now include executive and sous chefs, hotel and resort general managers, business owners as well as university graduates. All are contributing to their families and society.
KOTO continues to be acknowledged as a leading unique not-for-profit social enterprise, not only in Vietnam but also internationally. Today, KOTO provides over 100 at-risk and disadvantaged youth per year in Vietnam an opportunity to undertake our 24-month holistic hospitality training program to end the cycle of poverty and truly empower our trainees to realise their dreams.
Company Structure
KOTO Vietnam is a company owned by Mr Jimmy Pham, OAM. It is Vietnam’s first social enterprise. Jimmy established the company as the vehicle to achieve KOTO’s vision and mission.
Governance
KOTO has a range of governance and management policies and practices in place to assure donors, stakeholders and regulators that vulnerable persons are safe, and always protected from physical, mental or sexual abuse. These include:
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following and monitoring the policies. These policies and their associated monitoring, reporting and complaints procedures are designed to ensure that KOTO is a safe and caring environment, especially through protection trainees, and a robust process for reporting and investigation of incidents
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ensuring that KOTO staff, volunteers, internship hosts, and other service providers have similar, robust governance arrangements in place, and comply with KOTO Vietnam’s requirements, where they apply
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implementing human resource policies that ensure that staff and volunteers are vetted, appropriately qualified and trained and supported in their roles
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ensuring that trainees are trained, supported and monitored to assist them behave in appropriate ways.
KOTO and KOTO International work closely together to ensure that each of their policies, procedures and activities align closely. Together, the two organisations regularly monitor the safety of the environment and trainees and deal with any complaints or incidents comprehensively and in a fair and transparent manner.
Contact - If you have a question or query on any matter please contact Foundation Director Ms. Hanh
Email - hanh.hoangthi@koto.com.au
Mission, Vision and Culture
The History of KOTO
Jimmy Pham was born in Vietnam in 1972 and moved to Australia as a young child with his mother and siblings, growing up in Sydney. He was interested in tourism and travel, and studied hospitality at school. One night, on his first trip back to Vietnam, Jimmy went for a walk in Saigon and met some street kids. He noticed how dirty they were, and that they had blisters on their legs.
He asked, “Where do you shower?” and they replied, “We shower next to an open sewer.” The next day, he organised for that small group of street kids to have a proper wash. By the time he left Vietnam some two weeks later, word of his generosity had spread, and he was paying for 60 young people to wash and eat.
The concept of KOTO — Know One, Teach One — began when Jimmy asked some of these young people what they wanted out of life. They simply replied, “We need skills so we can find stable jobs.” He then decided that he wanted to come back to Vietnam on a long-term basis and make a difference. He didn't know how he was going to do it, he just knew that he wanted to help.
Jimmy Pham AM
KOTO Founder and CEO
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Founder's message
I am humbled that my desire to provide 9 street children with training, a stable income and a safe workplace in a small sandwich café in Hanoi has evolved and grown over the last twenty years. Thanks to the support of our donors, sponsors, partners, volunteers and staff, KOTO has now provided over 1,200 disadvantaged and at-risk youth with an opportunity to improve their lives, their families and their community.
KOTO has evolved since the early days, but I'm pleased to say our philosophy remains prominent in everything we do. KOTO stands for "Know One, Teach One”, and it reflects our belief that if you're in a position where you can help someone less fortunate, then you should help them; and the greatest thanks you can receive is to one day see that person be in a position to do the same for someone else.
I am honoured to find our alumni in every leading hotel and restaurant across the length and breadth of Vietnam. Many alumni are now running their own businesses and providing internship opportunities for KOTO trainees and employing KOTO graduates themselves. With their Australian Box Hill Institute qualification, many have been awarded scholarships to continue their studies in Australia and several are working in Australia, Germany, New Zealand and Singapore. I am especially proud when our alumni return to work at the KOTO Training Centre and our restaurants/catering services in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to enrich the lives of our trainees and encourage them to also dream large.
KOTO staff and volunteers are privileged to see the trainees transform from timid, shy teenagers into young, confident adults who are not only sought-after hospitality professionals, but also well-rounded, responsible community-minded citizens; ready to embrace any challenges that lie ahead. Experiencing this growth is thanks enough for our hard work.
Despite the considerable economic growth experienced in Vietnam over the last twenty years, the need for KOTO remains strong and fortunately the demand for well-trained hospitality professionals continues to grow. It's exciting to see the KOTO story being written day by day, and I look forward to the day that KOTO has the funds to build our Dream School and is financially self-sustainable.
Thank you for your interest in KOTO. I hope you enjoy learning about KOTO, and that one day you meet a graduate, trainee, or staff member and experience the warmth of the KOTO family for yourself.