Nomi Network Awarded Grant from Together Women Rise to Expand Workforce Opportunities for Women in Cambodia
Nomi Network is honored to receive a grant from Together Women Rise to strengthen our Workforce Development Program in Cambodia, expanding opportunities for women in trafficking-vulnerable communities to build safe and sustainable livelihoods.
This multi-year funding from Together Women Rise will support Nomi Network Cambodia’s Workforce Development Program through the end of 2027 in Banteay Meanchey and Thboung Khmum provinces—regions where poverty, limited education, and unsafe migration increase the risk of trafficking and exploitation. Through life skills training, vocational development, entrepreneurship support, and financial literacy education, the program equips women with the tools and support they need to pursue dignified work and build safer futures for themselves and their families. Over the next two years alone, the grant will directly support programming reaching at least 500 women, while strengthening long-term economic opportunities and resilience in their communities.
The grant will also strengthen program evaluation and learning, helping Nomi Network refine and expand approaches that empower women economically and socially within their communities.
About Together Women Rise
Together Women Rise is a powerful community of women and allies dedicated to global gender equality. It has hundreds of local chapters across the U.S. where members come together to learn about and advocate for gender equality issues, give grants to organizations that empower women and girls in low-income communities in the Global South, and build community to forge meaningful connections with each other and with women around the world.
Their support will help strengthen entrepreneurship training and expand economic opportunities for women in Cambodia who face significant barriers to safe and stable employment. https://togetherwomenrise.org
Sopheap’s Story: From Risky Migration to Economic Stability
Sopheap’s journey reflects the realities many women in Cambodia face—and the powerful change that becomes possible when women gain access to training, mentorship, and economic opportunity.
Sopheap and her husband live in Banteay Meanchey province, where their lives have long been rooted in rice farming. Despite their hard work, the income from farming was often not enough to meet their family’s basic needs or support their children’s education.
Facing persistent financial strain, they made the difficult decision to migrate to Thailand without legal documentation in search of better-paying work. Instead of stability, they found exhausting labor and constant uncertainty. They worked long hours sewing and repairing bags—sometimes from early morning until after midnight—earning just 17 Thai baht (about US $0.53) per piece.
Eventually, the physical toll and risks of undocumented work became too great, and they returned home to Cambodia, still struggling but determined to find another path forward.
That path began when Sopheap joined Nomi Network Cambodia’s training program.
Through the program, Sopheap gained skills she had never had the opportunity to learn before, including teamwork, financial literacy, time management, and decision-making. She also developed sewing skills that allowed her to earn additional income from home in a safe and dignified way.
Today, Sopheap’s family earns between $100 and $200 per month through a combination of rice farming and sewing. Each month she saves about $25, gradually building financial security for her family.
Her role at home has also changed. Sopheap now participates actively in decisions about farming, finances, and her children’s education. What once felt like a distant future—stability, savings, and educational opportunities for her children—is slowly becoming possible.
Sopheap is also sharing her experience with other women in her community, raising awareness about the risks of unsafe migration and encouraging others to pursue training opportunities that can help them build safer futures.
Her dream is simple yet powerful: to see her children complete their university degrees and grow up with opportunities she never had.
Building Safer Futures for Women and Communities
Out of the 500 women to be supported through the program, Nomi Network will provide safe migration and trafficking awareness sessions to 400 women. The program will also support 200 women in starting or growing micro-enterprises and engage 2,000 community members in awareness activities focused on women’s empowerment and safe migration.
By strengthening women’s economic independence and leadership, these programs reduce vulnerability to trafficking and help create more resilient families and communities.
