Our story
Namtha Aa Saa is a social enterprise founded in 2024 in Laos PDR, born from lived experience and a deep connection to land, culture, and community. It was envisioned by Phonevilay Soukhy, a young woman of mixed Lao and Hmong heritage who spent years working in remote upland villages. There, she witnessed the complex realities faced by ethnic minority communities—environmental degradation, a lack of opportunities after school, and gender norms that silence women and girls.
Today, Namtha Aa Saa is a locally led, women-driven initiative focused on climate resilience, cultural preservation, and gender equity for forest-dependent communities. We integrate creative expression with environmental education, market access, and social transformation—rooted in Indigenous knowledge and aligned with international frameworks like the UNDP Social and Environmental Standards and the IFC Performance Standards.
About Us
To advocate locally led climate resilience and gender justice by creating accesible, culturally grounded learning spaces for ethnic minority women and girls in Laos. Through participatory environmental education, sustainable livelihood development, and social norms awarness, Namtha Aa Saa empowers young women to become agents of environmental stewardship and social change.
We believe that ethnic girls and women are not just the most vulnerable to climate change, they are essential to build resilience. That’s why we work at the intersection of ancestral knowdlage, climate justice, and community, creating spaces where the next generation can rise, speak, and shape their own future.
Our Proyects
Empowered Embroidery: Reinvigorating Akha Culture and Empowering Young Women through Economic Opportunities
A circle of young Akha, Sida, and Iu Mien girls stitching traditional embroidery. In these threads, they began to tell stories of their lives, their landscapes, and their dreams. What started as an act of healing and cultural revitalization quickly grew into something more: a platform where young women could build skills, earn income, and speak freely about topics long kept in silence.
Upcycling Plastic Caps into Keychains, Magnets and Accessories.
This circular economy initiative not only reduces waste and raises awareness, but also generates income for participants while promoting environmental behavior change.
Pre-engagement assessments and capacity-building for climate adaptation, carbon credits , climate resilience and conservation decisions making for forest dependent ethnic minorities and low literacy communities.
- Community perception assessments of carbon credits impacts.
- Training curriculum and long-term trust-building frameworks to build grasroots capacity, to support Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).
What people are saying
There is not conservation without people
“Namtha Aa Saa redefines what it means to be a “beneficiary”—not as passive recipients of “aid”, but as cultural innovators, forest protectors, and future leaders of climate justice in Laos”.
Consultancy & Collaboration
At Namtha Aa Saa, we provide strategic consulting services tailored to organizations working at the intersection of climate change resilience, gender equity, Indigenous rights, and Ancestral knowedlage.
With over 14 years of combined experience across South east- Asia, Latin-central, north America, and global development networks, our team—led by two women from Colombia and Laos—offers a unique blend of local expertise and international standards. We operate in multiple languages (Lao- Thai-Spanish-English and Portuguese) and across diverse cultural contexts to deliver high-impact, community-grounded solutions.
To inquire about consultancy services, partnership opportunities, or project collaboration, please contact us directly. We welcome both long-term engagements and short-term advisory roles.
Flexible Pricing & Equity-Based Access
We believe affordability should not be a barrier to quality support.
Namtha Aa Saa is committed to inclusion. We offer adjusted consultancy rates for:
- Locally led NGOs
- Lao nationals
- Minority- and Indigenous-led organizations
Please Email us to: [email protected]
Consultancy
650 usd /Day
Our Services:
- Community-centered program design and facilitation
- Climate and Forest policy translation to local understanding
- Communication strategy and visual storytelling for long term trust- building proceesess
- Participatory research and social perception assessments
- FPIC processes and capacity-building for low-literacy or remote communities
- GESI and IFPC social standar assessments.
- Environmental and social safeguards assesments.