Our team

In 2012, Mr. Thanh Bui became the founder of the renowned Soul Music & Performing Arts Academy (SMPAA), an international-level education institution with a vision to build the next GLOCAL Citizens of Vietnam – individuals with Global mindset and Local values.

In 2016, Thanh founded Asia Music & Performing Arts Education (AMPA Education), an Australian based Charity registered by The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).

In 2018, Thanh founded Embassy Education (EE) Group, an innovative education system from Pre-school – 12, with a curriculum that is fully arts and sports integrated based on The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program. This coming April, EE will officially introduce Little Em’s Pre-school – the first pre-school in Vietnam to have signed an agreement to co-operate and apply the Reggio Emilia Approach® method with Reggio Children, Italy. Thanh is heavily focused on building infrastructure to support, nurture, develop, facilitate and amplify his vision for creative education and the arts for all children in Vietnam.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Van Anh has 34 years of experience in Early Childhood Education. She was the principal of many pre-schools in District 3, including national standard ones. Besides her professional knowledge in the field, Mrs. Van Anh also has strong understanding regarding the approach to children of special rights. With the hope of improving early childhood education development in Vietnam through applying the Reggio Emilia Approach®, she is passionate in developing the future Ambassadors for our country, and we are proud to introduce Mrs. Van-Anh as the Principal of Little Em’s Pre-school.

Ms. Cham graduated from Ho Chi Minh City University of Pedagogy with a major in Early Childhood Education. During her time there, she studied the Reggio Emilia Approach® and mastering this approach became one of her career goals. She has 8 years of experience working with pre-school children, including children of special rights and has achieved the DIR-Floortime 101 Certificate.

A life-long learner, Ms. Cham also finished her study at Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, majoring in Psychology – Consultation and Treatment; the major helps her better understand psychological aspects during her work. At the same time, Ms. Cham just completed “Parental Burnout” professional training and courses – the Parental Burnout Research Lab in Belgium; this will provide her with essential tools for diagnosing and supporting burnout parents.

Born in Italy, but now a resident in Ho Chi Minh City since 2015 with her family, Dr. Simona Bossoni is an expert, trainer and therapist in Special Education. From 2000 to 2010 she worked at the Center for Diagnostics, Treatment and Research on Autism of Verona’s hospital, one of the most important centers in Italy. From 2010 to 2015 she was the Director of her own Medical and Psychological Center dedicated to diagnostics and treatment for special rights children and adults.

She is now the Head of the Child Development Department of a new hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, lecturer at the National College of Education Ho Chi Minh City and consultant for many special schools and kindergartens. With the hope of contributing deeply to the development of special rights education for children in Vietnam, Dr. Simona Bossoni has joined Little Em’s Preschool as the Director of Special Rights Program.

Ms. Doan was born and raised in Saigon, and majored in Early Childhood Education at Stavanger University, Norway. She also attended a semester at the Schwäbisch Gmünd Pedagogical University, Germany, achieving full scholarship. During her studies and after graduation, she worked as a trainee and later as a lead teacher at various kindergartens in Norway.

Doan’s educational philosophy is that “Supportive and stimulating relationships enable children and teachers to learn better and see better their image in the world”. She is also multi-talented as a yoga instructor, singer, song-writer, voice-artist and brings her multi-disciplinary approach seamlessly into the Little Em’s classroom.

Ms. Ha graduated from Tôn Đức Thắng University, majoring in English. She has 5 years of experience working with children, including those of special rights. In addition, she has experience as a kindergarten teacher focusing on the Reggio Emilia Approach®️, and is a behavioral facilitator for children from pre-school to adolescence with special rights.

Ms. Ha has Teaching English Test Certificate of Cambridge English, the DIR-Floortime 101 Certificate, and Certificate of Completing the training course in Art Therapy for students/children with ASD from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, HCMC. Also a life-long learner, she is studying Psychology at Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Mr. Lam graduated Early childhood education at Lane Community College – Eugene, OR, United States. He also earned certificate in Guidance & Curriculum and Infants & Toddlers. During the time in the States, he had a chance to work at LCFC, Lane Child and Family Center – a 5-star quality childcare based on USA Qualified Childcare Standard, as a teacher assistant and co-lead teacher.

His learning mainly focused on Reggio Emilia Approach, Montessori, and Magda Gerber philosophy on taking care and guiding children. The purpose is to be able to carry out a developmentally appropriate curriculum activities for children. Choosing appropriate guidance methods to enhance children self-worth, self-esteem, problem solving skill, and abilities for day-to-day life.

At the age of 23, Luke fulfilled his dream by opening his very own restaurant – Red Lantern. In 2015, Luke opened GRAIN Cooking Studio in Saigon, offering hands-on cooking classes where guests experience a cooking and cultural journey of Vietnam. In 2017, Luke opened his first restaurant in Saigon with the WMC Group, Vietnam House – a fine dining modern Vietnamese restaurant in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, elevating Vietnamese cuisine to another level and most recently he opened Botanic House in the Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney in 2019. Luke was inducted into the Food Hall of Fame for his cooking and travel programs. He was also the judge and host of Master Chef Vietnam. He is currently the Global Cuisine Ambassador for Vietnam Airlines and Taste of Australia. Luke Nguyen was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Communications from RMIT University. Luke Nguyen is the designer of Little Em’s menu, and is among the nutrition experts for children at Little Em’s.

Betty Tran is a fashion designer and entrepreneur. She and her brand has been supported by a wide variety of stars and influencers, including professor Jimmy Choo, Spice Girl star turned X-Factor Judge Mel B, Serena and Venus Williams, Samantha Jade, Guy Sebastian & Jules Sebastian as well as Eurovision star Dami Im to name a few. In 2017, Betty was appointed to be the ambassador for fashion in Vietnam by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to develop philanthropic projects, which focus on the development in woman economic empowerment, youth education, gender equity and social justice. Betty Tran is the designer of our children’s uniform Collection of Little Em’s.

Mr. Le’s work has yielded awards from the Chicago, Illinois and national chapters of the American Institute of Architects during his 25 plus years career. Mr. Le’s projects have been published in such periodicals as Architectural Record, World Architecture News and Edutopia. His collaboration with Bruce Mau resulted in the publication The Third Teacher, a cabinet of wonders on how design can transform the ecology of learning.

Mr. Le blogged for Fast Company and is a frequent speaker at national and international venues. In 2010, Le launched The Third Teacher +, a multidisciplinary design think tank that treats the future of teaching and learning as a living question.

Sam is a founding partner at 180 Studio. A former high school English and History teacher in the public and private schools of New York City, Sam’s writings have appeared in both magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today.

A former speechwriter for President Obama’s two U.S. Secretaries of Education, Sam has also worked with both Oscar and Grammy Award winning artists. A periodic contributor to CNN, Sam is the author or co-author of six books, and a co-producer of the PBS documentary film, 180 Days: Hartsville.

Bà Marina Castagnetti là chuyên gia Đào tạo Quốc tế của Reggio Children với nhiều dự án và nghiên cứu khoa học quốc tế liên quan đến giáo dục. Bà là giáo viên của Trường Mầm non Thành phố Diana – đại diện cho các trung tâm và trường Mầm non cho trẻ sơ sinh của thành phố Reggio Emilia – trường tiên tiến nhất trên thế giới trong lĩnh vực giáo dục mầm non.

Một số nghiên cứu và triển lãm bà từng tham gia như nghiên cứu “Chilren, spaces, relations metaproject for an environment for young children” (1998); triển lãm “One city many children. Memory of a present History” (2009); triển lãm “Enchanted Worlds” (2011),…