Board of Directors

Lyn Hotchin

Volunteer – Founding Board Member, Founder/Chairperson

Lyn is the Founder of Singing Kites, working closing with Tith to get the school and projects to where they are at today. Lyn is a retired teacher and lives in Toowoomba. She spent many years on a sheep and cattle property in far western Queensland, home schooling her children and actively working to increase the range of educational opportunity for children and families living in isolated areas. She was able to use this knowledge and experience when she set up the English language school in Tanop Village, Cambodia in 2009, working tirelessly to raise sufficient funds to employ local builders to construct the school and local village teachers to staff it. Ten years later, that school has grown to become the Singing Kites organisation that exists today.

Lyn has gained an extensive knowledge of Cambodia and the customs, traditions and culture of its people in those ten years, and is committed to bringing educational opportunity to the rural disadvantaged. She continues to initiate and promote programs that help Cambodian communities access education, health services and better standards of living.

Bharat Vanmali

Volunteer – Founding Board Member, Executive Director

Bharat lives in Brisbane and has been in business since 1984 in various industries. He is an Executive Director of several private companies and trusts designed to invest in and manage business and equities in Australia that donates part of its profits to its foundation, which is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). Bharat has a strong commitment to help build up the capacity of rural Cambodian communities, as they work towards sustainability and move away from the cycle of poverty.

Alex Hotchin

Volunteer – Founding Board Member, Director

Alex is a published illustrator, map maker and adventurer. After completing Economics and Built Environments degrees from a Brisbane University, Alex moved to Melbourne where she now runs her own very successful Interior Architecture consultancy business. Alex has been involved in the school and in Singing Kites projects since 2009. She brings to her role as a Singing Kites Director her strong belief in the power of communities and the need to promote and defend human rights across all boundaries. She is a great supporter of all Singing Kites projects with a particular and special interest in the role that the arts and creative environments have in changing lives.