Jo moved to Singapore from London in 2002 to pursue a career with Capital International, a global investment management company. In five years she rose to a regional senior management role and became Assistant Vice President.
In 2007, when Tribob (a triathlon training club in Singapore of which Jo was a member) proposed initiating a charitable swimming program in Vietnam, Jo jumped at the opportunity to give back to the community. Jo left her role in investment management and travelled to Vietnam to start and run the program.
The swimming program was initially intended to run for three to six months, but demand was overwhelming, and the program proved so successful that Swim Vietnam has grown into one of the region’s oldest and most respected drowning prevention NGOs. Jo worked full time with Swim Vietnam for seven years before transitioning to an advisory role on the Board of Trustees.
She continues to be passionate about water safety and survival swimming in Vietnam, dedicating a further three years to opening the Australian based Paul Sadler Swimland swim school in Ho Chi Minh City.
In 2018 Jo moved back to Scotland to be closer to her family and started a new career as a Maths teacher. She has become involved with water safety in the UK by volunteering with the RNLI. She continues to influence drowning prevention in Vietnam through her role on the Swim Vietnam Board.
With over 15 years’ experience working as a swimming coach and lifeguard and managing a swim school in Australia, Swim Vietnam was fortunate to host David as a drowning prevention volunteer from 2014 to 2016.
During this time David helped develop Swim Vietnam’s water safety and lifesaving training, and promoted us a recognised leading training centre in Vietnam for water safety education and drowning prevention initiatives.
It’s this passion and experience that makes David such an asset to the Swim Vietnam board.
“I am very excited to become a new member of the Trustee for the Swim Vietnam Charity and hope that my understanding and knowledge from having worked closely with the staff and community in Hoi An and the Quang Nam will enable me to provide new direction and advice moving forward into the future success of this wonderful organisation.”
David currently works for Royal Life Saving Australia to help promote CPR, first aid and pool lifeguard training courses in Australia.
In his free time David enjoys surfing and fishing. He live in Kingscliff, Northern New South Wales with his wife. He has two grown children, Lynton and Letarcia.
David has been a keen supporter of Swim Vietnam from its early days, initially working on projects and initiatives with Rotary International and, subsequently, through Australian Friends for Life (a team of volunteers whose aim is to deliver financial and practical support to Swim Vietnam).
With a background in Financial Services and prior to early retirement, David was Chief Executive of an international group of companies, with responsibility for operations in Europe, the Middle East and Far East. He has experience in Executive and Non-Executive Director roles within both private and public sector companies in a variety of jurisdictions. He has also chaired a number of industry representative bodies and charitable organisations. Granted Freedom of the City of London in 1986, David is also a Paul Harris Fellow, awarded by Rotary International.
A British/Australian dual national, David and his wife Angela live in Perth, Western Australia. They have three adult children and six Grandchildren. In addition to spending time with their family and on charitable activities, they enjoy travel within Australia and internationally.
Marilyn has been a long-term supporter of Swim Vietnam and is excited to join the Board as a Trustee.
Marilyn’s background is in environmental management, HSSE (Health, Safety, Security and Environment) and risk management. She is currently employed by an energy company in London where she works with a wide stakeholder group of government, industry, NGOs and other partners to establish wider consensus in regard to the challenges and solutions to accelerate societal decarbonisation and energy transition.
Marilyn is American but has been living overseas for the last 27 years in Australia, Singapore and London. When living in Asia she had the privilege of seeing Swim Vietnam in its early days and is in awe of what the team has accomplished since.
She is currently in her final year of a Master’s degree in Philanthropy and Social Investment from Bayes Business School in London.
