Local roots, international reach
Sevea began in 2011 working with social enterprises to make essential services like clean energy and safe drinking water more accessible. We still bring the same questions to our work today. Who will use this? Can they afford it? Who will keep it working once the project ends?
We are a woman-led firm of Cambodian and international consultants based in Phnom Penh. We work in Khmer, English and French, with assignments across Asia, Africa and the Pacific, alongside governments, businesses and development partners, to turn policies, investment decisions and programmes into changes people can use in their daily lives.
Our senior team
Cécile Dahomé
Co-founder and CEOCécile Dahomé helps governments, businesses and development partners make decisions today with a clear view of what they will need to build for the future. An engineer and entrepreneur, she co-founded Sevea in Phnom Penh in 2011 and grew it into a multidisciplinary consulting firm. She brings more than 19 years of experience across institutional reform, enterprise development, climate finance, agriculture, water and energy.
Cécile is drawn to questions that no single institution can solve on its own. She brings people with different interests together to understand what is changing, agree on a direction and build the capacity to act on it. Her vision is for economies and institutions that can adapt to disruption, give people more say in shaping their future, and restore the living systems they depend on.
In Cambodia, she has advised on the governance of public institutions, designed programmes for the transition to cleaner energy, and helped entrepreneurs prepare for investment. During her time coordinating the Private Financing Advisory Network in Cambodia, businesses mentored through the programme raised more than US$50 million.
Cécile began her career at Colombus Consulting and trained as an engineer at Centrale Lyon and PUC-Rio. She sits on the board of the IBC, is a French Foreign Trade Advisor and works in French, English and Portuguese.
Wilson Soo
HeadWilson Soo is an engineer by training and a strategy and finance adviser with more than 13 years of experience across Southeast Asia. He started in operations at Grab and managed industrial projects at Turcomp before moving into consulting with Evant & Co, Emerging Markets Consulting and Profitence. In Cambodia, he led the review of Artisans Angkor’s operations and finances and helped the social enterprise plan its response to the pandemic.
Wilson joined Sevea in 2024 to lead its work on access to finance and small business development. He knows both sides of an investment decision. For an entrepreneur, he can work through what an expansion will cost, how it will earn money and what financing would make it viable. For a lender, he can turn that understanding into a product that fits how customers actually do business.
He coordinates Cambodia’s work in a six-country climate finance programme and led the development of a green finance playbook for the Cambodia Microfinance Association and Oxfam. He has also led advisory work for small businesses supplying water and electricity in rural Cambodia. Wilson holds an engineering degree from Monash University.
Dara Dan
HeadDara brings more than eight years of experience across Cambodia, Southeast Asia and the United States. He started in Cambodia as a manager at Senses Journeys Travel and went into consulting with Emerging Markets Consulting. In the US, he worked on a new hydrogen venture at Bosch, joined CDP as a public sector engagement fellow and worked with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as a graduate consultant. He also managed programmes for the Vita Coco Community Foundation.
At Sevea, Dara brings those different perspectives to questions of public policy and how industries work. He leads Sevea’s work with Cambodia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy on gender equality and has managed assignments on green economy policy, plastics and the packaging industry. His work brings what businesses, public officials and communities are seeing on the ground into the decisions that shape a sector.
Dara studied business at UC Berkeley and earned a Master of Public Administration at Columbia University. He teaches systems thinking, public sector innovation and consulting practice at the National University of Management in Phnom Penh, and works in English and Khmer.
We help governments, businesses and communities navigate today's transitions while building desirable futures.
Human systems able to weather today's disruptions and to serve life and future generations.
Teal principles, in the office and in the field
Sevea is guided by Teal principles. We believe the people closest to the work should have room to lead, that taking responsibility includes asking for advice, and that helping a colleague grow is part of the job.
We bring that same instinct to our assignments. We listen to the people who will use a service or carry out a plan while there is still time for their experience to shape it. A ministry, a business and the people using a service will each see things the others can miss. Part of our job is to bring those perspectives together and work out what can be done.
A glimpse of Sevea’s team culture: Spreading Our Wings, filmed in 2024.
In our own words
“Our ambition is to be a leading regenerative consulting company, setting an example by co-creating with our partners and clients a future where every individual's well-being is nurtured and nature is restored and protected.”
Cécile Dahomé, Co-founder and CEO“We measure the true success of our mission not just by the insights we provide, but by the sustainable, long-lasting positive change our clients achieve by implementing our solutions. Our collaborative, collective intelligence approach informs recommendations that our clients are genuinely motivated to put into action.”
Frantz Vaganay, Shareholder“Our back office isn't just a support function: they're partners in the professional and personal growth of the team. Beyond the practical support, the team has a genuine care for the wellbeing of Sevea and everyone at Sevea.”
Channy Nop, Head of Internal Services“Sevea is different: employees are encouraged to actively contribute to the company's culture and strategy, and Sevea strives to bring meaningful change through in-depth knowledge of how things work in the field, and through continuous dialogue with all stakeholders involved.”
Irénée Vallette, Senior Consultant, 2024
Vergenylundy Song, then Senior Consultant, Energy, on how listening to Cambodian energy officials shaped the training Sevea designed (2024).
