Graduate profile: Chloé Deparis

Chloé Deparis graduated from the MASTER IN Governing the Large Metropolis in 2020. For the past two years she has been living in Cambodia and working as a project manager at Sevea, a think tank specialising in sustainable development.

What are your current role and responsibilities?

I’m currently a project manager at Sevea, a hybrid company that is both a consulting firm and a think tank, specialising in sustainable development across four sectors: clean energy; water and sanitation; agriculture and rural development; and finance and support to SMEs. Sevea has been working in Cambodia for 10 years.

My role is fundamentally transversal – I work on a variety of subjects and missions ranging from project implementation to market research and business development across each of the four sectors. For me it's about putting my intersectional skills to work where they are needed, often by way of supporting employees who have technical expertise.

Why did you choose a career in Cambodia?

I didn’t specifically choose to pursue a career in Cambodia, I ended up here by chance through my end of studies internship. It was initially Sevea that attracted me to Cambodia, more than Cambodia itself, but I love the working and living environment, so I ended up deciding to stay. Cambodia is a very stimulating country from a professional point of view, especially in the development sector. It’s an environment where everything is evolving very quickly, where the legal framework and the private sector are sufficiently developed to be able to put things in place, but where entire sectors remain undeveloped.

What do you enjoy most in your daily life?

What I find most rewarding on a daily basis is the opportunity that life in Phnom Penh gives me to meet people from many different cultures, both Khmers and expatriates. This is of course something that is not specific to Cambodia, but the expatriate community in Phnom Penh has the advantage of being small enough to be easily navigable, and large enough to offer the opportunity to meet people from diverse backgrounds. It’s also an expatriate community in which Khmers seem to me to be relatively well integrated, and it’s very easy to make Khmer friends.

What advice would you give to students who want to work in Cambodia?

With so many opportunities in Cambodia, it’s easy to start working here. My advice would be more about the state of mind in which you arrive; as in any experience of moving abroad, I think it’s important to come to Cambodia with an open mind, ready to step out of your comfort zone, and without any ambition to change the world, because it is up to the Khmers themselves to change their country.

An interview conducted by Sciences Po Careers.

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