Siew Lee co-founded a non-governmental organization, Cocoon, in Timor-Leste in 2007, during a time of civil and political unrest. She served as Executive Director for 14 years, leading a cross-cultural team of volunteers and staff. Together they ran English courses for Timorese youth and children, as well as community development projects. In 2015, Cocoon started a preschool, which has obtained school licensing status awarded by the Ministry of Education, Timor-Leste. Today, the preschool is operating at maximum capacity.

Experienced in leadership, team and culture building, and having successfully grown a team of Timorese leaders who now manage the operations of the NGO, Siew Lee finds joy in supporting people, teams and organizations grow and thrive.

Prior to her stint in Timor-Leste, Siew Lee worked in Channel NewsAsia, where she led teams of journalists to produce live regional and international news bulletins.

Achievements

• Successfully led and executed strategic planning at Cocoon through all stages of the NGO’s growth – from starting to leadership succession
• Designed all aspects of the organization’s HR policies with contextualization for culture appropriateness
• Initiated and strengthened relationships with diverse stakeholders, including the government of Timor-Leste, volunteers and donors from different countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Timor-Leste
• Founded a preschool and successfully obtained legal recognition from the Timorese Ministry of Education
• Successfully grew a steady income stream for the organization, which led to significant progress towards self-sustainability
• Managed building projects to expand the preschool operations and improved safety by adopting flood-control measures
• Led international teams to cover world events like the 911 terror attacks, the Iraq war, and the Asian Tsunami as a journalist and producer