Dr. Nguyen Bao Thoa is currently director of Vietnam Rural Industries Research and Development Institute. She has more than 20 years of experience in the field of livelihood improvement for disadvantaged people, community-based tourism, women empowerment, and capacity building for small and medium enterprises in Vietnam. Dr. Thoa is also an expert in fair trade, market liaison, and branding. In addition, she has been involving in more than 200 development projects while contributing to bringing back better lives for local people, especially for women in rural areas of Vietnam.