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KOTO
,
which stands for
Know One Teach
One, is a social enterprise aiming to
provide disadvantaged youths with the
opportunity to improve their lives. It of-
fers a platform for training in outstand-
ing service, cuisine preparation and
hospitality management. KOTO made
the top five in the Schwab Foundation
Social Entrepreneur of the year 2009
awards for Entrepreneurship.
Jimmy Pham, the organisaiton’s
founder and CEO, says: “The idea start-
ed on a walk 16 years ago when I met
four wandering children and decided
to help them; and now we have KOTO
enterprise. We have been operating for
more than 10 years in Hanoi and two
in Ho Chi Minh City, aiming to give dis-
advantaged children a brighter future.
The children are our siblings, and KOTO
is a family, not just a vocational school.”
“During our two year course, the
children are taught soft skills, profes-
sional skills, English, and so on,” he ex-
plains. “It is a source of immense pride
when all of them have good jobs and
sustainable lives after graduating.”
Every six months, KOTO enrolls
25-30 homeless or poor children. The
enrollment process lasts two to three
months, depending on the number of
files. Then, the trainees are provided
with a health examination, vaccina-
tions, a uniform, dormitory and month-
ly expenses.
KOTO focuses on real experiences,
therefore during the course trainees get
involved in the restaurants. Besides,
trainees are taught to develop their soft
skills in 36 living skill classes and via
many charity activities.
“We should do charity work by
helping people develop themselves, not
giving them money. Thus, we give our
trainees skills and confidence to live a
better life,” Pham says.
Being a social enterprise means
KOTO has to compete like any other
business. Therefore, KOTO’s leaders
have decided to renew and expand
the enterprise.
Martin Tran, KOTO’s marketing
manager says: “KOTO enterprise is how
we can make ourselves sustainable, so
we do not have to always ask for mon-
ey. Then we can become independent,
stand on our own two feet and create
the revenue to help the youth. By doing
so, we can truly be non-profit.”
As a non-profit business, KOTO
wants to teach as many youths as pos-
sible. This is the reason why KOTO dou-
bled its size in 2010.
KOTO’s big step to sustainability
starts from a new logo and stretches to
whole new systems to strengthen the
enterprise. “We need to improve our
identity, so last year we created a new
look and a new feeling for our enter-
prise,” says Tran. “We set up a general
office and a system on how to operate
the enterprise. We also restructured our
financial system in order to make us
more transparent, which is very impor-
DINING FOR A CAUSE
SOCIETY AT LARGE
Over the past decade, KOTO, a non-profit organization, has given life-changing
opportunities to more than 700 disadvantaged youths in Vietnam through its
two-year hospitality training programme.