Since 2010, Nhaca Le (SFS ’12) has been serving as the managing director of Learning Enterprises, an entirely student-run, nonprofit organization that sends American college students abroad to teach English in remote locations. Founded by a Harvard student in 1992, the organization has grown exponentially from a handful of volunteers in Budapest, Hungary, to having 150 volunteers in 11 countries worldwide this year. The organization continues to expand with programs currently available in many countries such as Romania, Panama, Mauritius, China, Turkey and a new pilot program in Mongolia. Le sat down with the guide to talk more about her role at Learning Enterprises and her experiences tutoring abroad.

What inspired you to get involved with Learning Enterprises?

I was born in Vietnam, but had never left the United States once I moved here, and as a freshman here at Georgetown, I was passionate about education. Neither of my parents went to college, and so being able to go to Georgetown has already changed my socioeconomic status so much. I am passionate about education and Southeast Asia, since that’s where I’m from originally. I saw a flyer and saw that Thailand was one of the available programs, and it just seemed perfect for me. I applied to teach in Thailand that summer of 2009. My sophomore year, I was the recruiter at Georgetown. In the summer of 2010, I lead the program in China and since August of 2010 I have been the managing director.

What do you do as the managing director?

I oversee day-to-day operations and am in charge of everything at a very macro level. I make our budgets and try to meet the demands of the budget through fundraising. I work with insurance; I hire and oversee the staff. I do a lot of legal stuff, like with our program in Honduras, which we had to cancel after the Peace Corps pulled all their volunteers out due to violence. I also work closely with the board of directors to make sure that we are keeping in line with our mission and staying true to the spirit of [Learning Enterprises].

How does the process of sending students abroad work?

It is a very simple process. Once communities have been chosen, each country is designated a number of volunteers, which depends on the number of students there are, what the demonstrated need is and how many host families are willing to host. … Campus directors heavily recruit in the fall throughout the United States and Great Britain. You apply, you interview and if you are great, you are selected. Most of our programs run from five to eight weeks.

What has been your favorite part about working with Learning Enterprises?

I think my favorite part about working with [Learning Enterprises] is the personal stories that come out summer after summer. I think a lot of people question how much we can really teach these kids in just a few weeks, since most of the kids have never even seen an American, but [it’s important] that we show these communities that Americans are willing to fly thousands of miles and devote their whole summer to teach these kids English, and it just makes education seem really important. What we hope is that these volunteers can inspire hope and a belief in the power and importance of education. Even if one child is inspired to continue their education beyond the elementary level, maybe even to college and beyond, I think it’s a job well done.

How does Learning Enterprises choose where to establish operations?

We believe in a bottom-up approach where people, usually natives of a country, come to us because they see a need in their community and want volunteers to come and teach English. We partner with them and have someone in-country, called the Country Coordinators, who finds the host families and the schools and then we, on the stateside, find volunteers that are willing to go.