15 Years Later - Returning to Harpswell Cambodia

May 13, 2024: Clara Péron is the founder of Value for Good, a specialized social impact consultancy focused on helping clients across the public, private and non-profit sectors address the world’s most pressing challenges. In 2007, Clara served as one of Harpswell’s first Leadership Residents and she currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees. In early 2024, Clara returned to Harpswell’s Cambodian Women’s Leadership dormitories in Phnom Penh. Read on for her reflections:

In the summer of 2007, I came to Harpswell as one of the first-ever Leadership Residents (LR). My experience back then, living close to such hard-working women, really inspired me - I saw firsthand how Harpswell was an inflection point that would help these young women build better lives for themselves.

So many dedicated students stand out in my memory: There was one third-year student whom I would meet every morning on the top floor of the TT dorm, where I was living. She would be studying in the Hall of Great Women early in the morning, up before everyone else - her goal was to join the Institut Pasteur, a prestigious research institute dedicated to public health. Another student who was new to the dorms and in her English intensive prep phase would diligently join my yoga sessions in English, always eagerly trying to apply new words she had learned from the other Leadership Residents.

For me, the LR experience at Harpswell put me on the path to working towards global development and women’s empowerment. And so in 2014, I founded Value for Good, a dedicated social impact consultancy, and decided to help Harpswell measure its impact on a pro bono basis. The results of Harpswell’s impact measurement efforts have been astounding:

Harpswell graduates earn up to 5 times what an average Cambodian woman does!!!

These results made me even more resolved in my decision to support the organization and since 2017, I have served as an active Board of Trustee member. This year, I had my first sabbatical since founding Value for Good and spent one month volunteering at Harpswell - it is just as amazing as 15 years ago!

There were positive changes since I had last been there: the TT dorm and Alumnae house now exist and the staff has been considerably strengthened, leading Harpswell with immense care for students. There are now IT rooms in both dorms with large computer screens and multiple printers. I was also glad to see that there are well-stocked libraries, musical instruments and yoga mats galore. Above all, what impressed me was the continued brilliance of the women living in the dorms: their motivation to learn and discover new things, their enthusiasm to work hard to get results and their zest for life.