Having grown up under parents who were English teachers in Kuala Terengganu, Sue Yen’s life ambition has always been to follow their footsteps.
After completing her a BS(Hons) in Biology and a BA in Health: Science, Society and Policy from Brandeis University in the United States, Sue Yen was part of a bio-pharmaceutical start up based in Penang and San Francisco before she decided to join the Teach for Malaysia fellowship. She also has a Certificate of Achievement for English in Early Childhood: Language Learning and Development from the British Council and a Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) from Universiti Utara Malaysia.
With three other Teach for Malaysia teachers, she co-founded MYReader in 2015 and has reached out to over 36,000 students and 1,000 other teachers ever since. MYReader’s 27-week programme supports students who lack basic English proficiency, enabling them to complete two-years worth of progress and putting them on par with their peers in actual schools. Sue Yen previously led the MYReaders team as Executive Director from 2019 to 2021 and was the Programme Director in 2015. Today, she oversees the Finance, HR and Administrative departments.
Sue Yen’s passion lies in connecting with and empowering communities to run sustainable programmes, as well as creating play-based learning resources for young learners especially since she became a mother to a two-year-old bookworm.
Making an impact is to empower individuals or communities in need with the necessary skills and knowledge to enable them to improve their lives’ trajectory.