Spike Millington
We are very happy to welcome Ms. Hyeseon Do as new EAAFP Program Officer, replacing Ms. Minseon Kim, who is studying for a Master’s degree at the University of Cambridge, UK. Ms. Do was selected from a very strong group of applicants for this position, reflecting the high profile of EAAFP as an international organization.
Hyeseon is very well known to us, having served as an intern at the Secretariat for six months in early 2014, with increasing responsibilities. At CBD COP 12 in Pyeongchang, Korea, she took charge of the logistics and program for the meeting, including the EAAFP exhibition booth. I remember that EAAFP was very involved in the meeting and had many different events and meetings scheduled, including the signing ceremony to welcome CBD as an EAAFP Partner. Hyeseon did a wonderful job of coordinating this, including making sure that the Chief Executive got to all his meetings on time!
Hyeseon has a law degree from Renmin University in Beijing and has worked in both public and private sector organizations. For two years, she worked as a project development coordinator at Future Forest, an international NGO combatting desertification in China. With the cooperation of the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Korea and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, she successfully implemented a Global Green Campaign Project with 200 volunteers, including civil servants, entrepreneurs, experts and students. As a result, the organization received sponsorship from Korean Air, Korea Forest Service and Lotte Mart, developing social environmental campaigns and projects. Her fluency in Chinese, Korean and English will serve her well as EAAFP Program Officer.
After her internship at EAAFP, Hyeseon took a job at the United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Center for Information and Communication Technology (UN-APCICT), preparing inter-governmental meetings, capacity building training and regional events for 32-member states, with a focus on ASEAN countries. Happily, the APCICT office is located in the same building as the EAAFP Secretariat, so we were able to see Hyeseon often and she continued to be involved informally in EAAFP events. In a way, it seems she never left, so we are happy to welcome her back.
Hyeseon has many qualities and attributes that made her a valued and respected member of our team during her internship. She is cooperative, a great team player, patient (especially with the Chief Executive ?) but very organized and goal-oriented. I have every confidence that Hyeseon will be able to maintain the professional networks established by her predecessor and will communicate and work well with EAAFP’s many Partners and stakeholders in the future.
Good luck , Hyeseon, I know you will do a great job and advance the Secretariat’s and EAAFP’s programs in the Flyway !!
