MEET THE TEAM
We - The Reconnecting Cambodia Project - have been proudly going since 2021, organically growing into a small but highly dedicated team, expertly positioned and united by our love for Cambodia and deep respect for the identity of the Khmer people.
With international offices in the UK as Reconnecting Cambodia and in the Netherlands as DNACambodia, we proudly operate on the ground in Cambodia as the Khmer Family Charity Organization KFCO). United in our mission to bring families back together, we are the Reconnecting Cambodia Project!
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Founder, Reconnecting Cambodia (UK) | Co-founder, DNACambodia (NL) | Patron, Khmer Family Charity Organization (KH)
Li-Da was born in Cambodia but adopted to the UK. A career in TV and independent film was initiated by the need to explore her origins story in her documentaries Belonging (ITV, 2004) and Prue Leith: Journey With My Daughter (Channel 4, 2020). She maintained a connection to Cambodia through the Nginn Karet Foundation for Cambodia and her mentor Ravynn Karet Coxen. Inspired by the harrowing but not unfamiliar story of 77-year-old Mrs. Soth losing her baby daughter, Li-Da co-founded DNACambodia, followed by Reconnecting Cambodia (UK). She also co-founded RELISH - a female-led TV production company.
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Trustee, Reconnecting Cambodia (UK)
Ilana was born in the UK and raised with a relaxed approach to her Jewish faith. While not religious, she understood her family’s history and knew the stories of her grandmother’s cousins lost in the Holocaust. Upon meeting Li-Da and learning about the Cambodian genocide, she felt an immediate connection. She wanted to support Li-Da’s mission to reunite families and educate younger generations on preserving these stories. Only together, we learn, rebuild, and continue our hope to reconnect.
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Trustee, Reconnecting Cambodia (UK)
Jenny Pearson holds dual UK and Cambodian citizenship. She first went to Cambodia as a VSO volunteer in 1995. She then founded a Cambodian NGO and played a leading role in developing the capacity of the not-for-profit sector until she retired and returned to England in 2022. She has qualifications in social work and management and worked in the public sector in England before going to Cambodia. Jenny retains strong links with Cambodia and still visits regularly.
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Trustee, Reconnecting Cambodia (UK)
Christine Su is a Visiting Faculty Member in Southeast Asian History and Asian American Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, United States. An experienced education professional with a strong background in serving diverse populations across two- and four-year colleges and universities at both undergraduate and graduate levels, she is skilled in nonprofit management, women's leadership, fundraising, international relations, and conference and workshop organization and training. The biracial daughter of a Khmer father and a Scottish mother, her research efforts focus on multiracial and transnational identity and Southeast Asian diasporic history and culture. She is the author of Voices of a New Generation: Cambodian Americans in the Creative Arts (2021), and Kroeung: Cambodian Cooking with Chef T (2022).
A dedicated community advocate and activist, she holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame, Bowling Green State University, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
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Trustee, Reconnecting Cambodia (UK)
Y Sok is a Cambodian American restaurateur and cultural curator based in Manchester. A survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime who spent her early years in a Thai refugee camp, she grew up in Los Angeles within the vibrant Khmer diaspora. After two decades as an international art dealer at a prestigious New York gallery, Y relocated to the UK in 2014, where she opened one of the country’s first Cambodian restaurants. Today, she operates three acclaimed eateries across Greater Manchester, curates an avant-garde music and art series, and serves as a trustee for Reconnecting Cambodia.
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Director, KFCO (Cambodia)
Po-Thai has worked as a tour guide and archaeologist at the Angkor World Heritage site for over 20 years. Through his film and TV work as a fixer and producer,he met Li-Da Kruger in 2019 while she was searching for her birth parents for a documentary. Despite extensive research, a DNA test proved Li-Da and a mother looking for her daughter weren’t related. Inspired by his experiences, Po-Thai is helping his compatriots by leading Reconnecting Cambodia’s efforts through KFCO in Cambodia to help society heal from the Khmer Rouge regime.
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Volunteer | Phnom Penh Representative (Cambodia)
Chanserey was born in Cambodia and raised in the UK. Feeling out of place and disconnected from her Cambodian roots, she returned to Cambodia with a desire to reconnect with her heritage. Introduced to Li-Da by her uncle, Chanserey passionately joined Reconnecting Cambodia to support its mission of reuniting families and rediscovering history. She deeply believes in the power of healing and forming new connections with lost relatives, especially given the painful past that tore many families apart.
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Co-founder | DNACambodia (NL)
Meta first visited Cambodia in 2002 to adopt her daughter. She tried to gather information about her origins but later found it was likely incorrect. Using 23andMe and Ancestry, they sought relatives and joined the Khmer Cousins Project. In 2016, Meta started a Facebook page to help find her daughter’s birth relatives. Inspired in 2018, she raised funds and traveled to Cambodia in 2019, collecting 15 DNA samples. In 2020, Meta’s dream came true as she, Kari, and Li-Da started an NGO to continue this work.
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Co-founder | DNACambodia (NL)
Kari and her spouse adopted two children from Cambodia. As the children grew older, they questioned their origins, and Kari realized the stories they were told might not be true. Familiar with DNA testing, Kari saw its potential to help her kids. In 2012, she started the Khmer Cousins DNA Project to test adopted children for familial connections. Remarkably, her two kids were found to be 4th cousins. Merging this project with first DNACambodia, then Reconnecting Cambodia will expand testing and support in Cambodia.
