For more information on the past work of Challenge to Change, please contact Graham Adutt, the former Executive Director, on:

  • Email: [email protected]
  • Tel: +44 1227 787265
  • Address: 14 The Terrace, Canterbury CT2 7AJ, Kent, UK

Opposite is a photograph of ‘the Street’, a natural bank of sand and shingle at right angles to the coast at Tankerton near Whitstable. Visible at low tide and stretching out for about half a mile, the Street is submerged twice each day as the tide comes in.  An artist, Nick Crowe, recently created a sculpture of the islands of Tuvalu, and attached them to the seabed on the Street. Twice each day, the sculpture dramatically disappeared as the tide rose, symbolising the fate of the real islands of Tuvalu in the South Pacific, which will probably be the first landmass to be submerged by rising seas as a result of climate change. The sculpture was significant for the small town of Whitstable which is itself built on a flood plain. Photo thanks to J Vaughan, www.whitstablephotoprints.com

Graham Adutt, former Director of Challenge to Change, worked in the field of international development for 20 years. “If we care about the future, now is the time to take responsibility and to take risks” he said. Graham studied Development Studies in the 1990s, and now believes the concept of development should change from ‘growth’ to simply ‘good change’.  He balances his time spent on advocacy, humanitarian and world-changing issues, with family time.

Contact: [email protected]

Phuong Dang, former Climate Programme Coordinator for Challenge to Change, is a technical expert in the fields of Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction, Gender Mainstreaming, Civil Society, and community-based approaches.  Ms Dang founded Challenge to Change, with Mr Adutt, in 2008.  Her great commitment to serving vulnerable communities has inspired many of the projects which Challenge to Change has supported.  Since leaving Challenge to Change, she continues to work with development agencies in Asia and East Africa as a consultant, often on research projects or evaluation assignments.

Contact: [email protected]

Phuong 450 280 ctc

Nguyen Tri Dzung was the most recent Representative of Challenge to Change in Vietnam. He doesn’t ‘think outside the box’ because for Dzung ‘there is no box’.  A former staff of Oxfam GB and Oxfam Quebec, Dzung graduated from the University of Hawaii. His special interests include livelihoods and coping strategies of ethnic minority communities in Vietnam’s northern mountainous region, and enhancing good local governance. A multi-tasker, able to do everything quickly and to high standard.

Contact [email protected]

Vu Thi My Hanh was CtC’s Youth Programme Manager and Communications focal point in Vietnam. She began youth activism while in high school and continued at university. “Young people want to belong and get involved in making decisions that affect their lives. We need to ensure their participation in the decision-making processes. I’m confident that once youth are taken seriously and provided the support they need, then change for a sustainable future will quickly follow.”

Contact [email protected]

Le Quang Duat was CtC’s Senior Associate in the southern region of Vietnam, able to cool any climate with his friendly personality. Duat was CtC’s lead facilitator of planning processes, and also led on participatory approaches to climate change adaptation. He has a natural ability to create win-win situations, partly acquired through deep practical experience of poverty reduction and development programmes. Duat was responsible for CtC’s work in the vulnerable Mekong Delta.

Contact: [email protected]

Luu Dieu Trang, CtC’s former Finance and Administration Officer in Hanoi, says “Vietnamese people are already being impacted by climate change, and we didn’t do much to cause it.  But we must still try to slow it down. We are all responsible now.”  Trang has worked as a Project Officer on disaster management projects for CARE International and as an Accountant with Save the Children US.  She used this combination of skills to oversee the financial efficiency and propriety of CtC’s fieldwork.

Contact: [email protected]

Nguyen Phuc Hoa, former Senior Associate of Challenge to Change, is a preeminent authority in Vietnam on community-based disaster risk management; hazard, capacity and vulnerability assessment, community-based climate change adaptation, and hazard-resilient construction. Her expertise enabled CtC to bring essential support to communities faced with increasing typhoons, storms and floods in Vietnam’s central region.  Hoa was a valued mentor within CtC. Her home is the central city of Hue.

Contact: [email protected]

The Trustees of Challenge to Change contributed a wide range of experience to the organisation in the fields of poverty reduction and development assistance, social and environmental science, journalism, and financial management.

They were (opposite):
Upper Row:
Mr Stephen Boyle (Chair), Herne Bay, England
Dr Sheelagh O’Reilly, Argyll & Bute, Scotland
Dr Alan Taylor, Cambridge, England

Lower Row:
Mr Koos Neefjes, Hanoi, Vietnam
Ms Hoang Hoa Anh, Sydney, Australia