Board Members & Staff

The Savong Foundation has board members in the United States and a small number of staff in Cambodia to make sure all our programs are working as smoothly as possible. Here is our team:

Savong Foundation Board Members

Phil Caldwell

Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Phil established the Savong Foundation as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in May 2011 after visiting Cambodia for many years and falling in the love with the people and their desire to improve themselves especially through education. Although he is Canadian, he has spent most of his adult years in the United States and makes a living as a small animal veterinarian.

Eddie Lamborn

Scholarship Manager

Eddie works for Zoetis, the world’s largest animal health company, where he helps veterinarians understand medications for dogs and cats. He is also a veteran of the United States Air Force having served 12 years as a missile operations officer and contingency planner. He visits Cambodia annually and works with our Cambodian staff to ensure our scholarship student program is operating smoothly.

Alberto Tejero

Treasurer

Alberto started his career in the Entertainment Industry as CFO of Universal Music, MediaPro and Hitsbook in Miami, Florida. He is currently working as the CFO of the Jewish Federation of Palm Springs. He travelled for the first time to Cambodia in 2023 and visited with the Savong students.

Moeun Cheat

Board Member

Cheat was originally one of our scholarship students and he reached out to us for an opportunity for better education when he was in a rural high school. We supported him all through his remaining high school years as well as his university years at the University of Cambodia. He graduated with a degree in Marketing and started his own business called My Kitchen, which has both a shop in Phnom Penh as well as an online presence.

Brandi Jackson

Secretary

Bio coming soon

Sean Heim

Music Program Director

Sean Heim received his Bachelor of Music degree from Rowan University, his Master of Music from Arizona State University, and his Ph.D. from The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. His work as a composer, which frequently involves interdisciplinary elements, reflects the techniques and aesthetic of his own western tradition as well as principles and musical elements from numerous cultures – particularly those of indigenous peoples. His most recent works explore human interconnectedness with environment/place by means of a musical language that increasingly reflects the intrinsic voice of nature.

Heim has received numerous awards, honors, and commissions from such prestigious institutions as the Fromm Music Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, the American Music Center, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the American Composers Forum, and the ASCAP Foundation Rudolf Nissim Prize. His discography includes releases on Sono Luminus, Eine Klang, and Capstone Records. He currently resides in Southern California and is Professor of Music and Director of Music Composition/Theory at Chapman University. He is the Director of Curriculum for the Nirmita Composers Workshop.

Cambodian Staff

Rathana Cam

Administration Manager

Rathana works closely with our students and makes sure that we receive their monthly grades and attendance and addresses any problems as they arise. He was employed New Hope Cambodia for 6 years before he started to work for the Savong NGO. He is a graduate of Angkor University and lives with his wife and young son in Siem Reap.