Sven Mauleon is a Swedish management consultant and the co-founder of OpenmindProjects. With a background in international development and a passion for leveraging technology for social good, Sven was inspired to create opportunities for disadvantaged youth in Southeast Asia. In 2001, he teamed up with Gaweechat Joompaula to establish OpenmindProjects in Nong Khai, Thailand. Sven's vision was to bridge the digital divide and empower young people through access to computer education and skills training. Though he now resides in Sweden, Sven remains actively involved in OpenmindProjects and continues to support their mission.
Join us on a Mission to Fight Poverty
Volunteer with OpenmindProjects, a nonprofit grassroots organization empowering impoverished youth and their parents in Southeast Asia.
Our Story
OpenmindProjects is a nonprofit charity founded in Thailand in 2002. We started with IT learning for the underprivileged in 2001 and have since expanded to help disadvantaged people throughout Southeast Asia. We are supported by a local and global network of staff, trainees, volunteers, friends, and alumni. Our focus is on helping poor children through schools, camps, and a Training Center. The Covid pandemic disrupted our work, leading us to launch online training programs. We are now working to restart our pre-Covid projects and welcome volunteers. As a nonprofit charity, we rely on donations to continue our mission.
Our mission is to empower disadvantaged youth in rural Southeast Asia through active learning, bridging the digital and educational divide, and fostering confidence for a brighter future.
We envision a future of equal opportunities in which young people, no matter their backgrounds, have hope, inspiration and confidence to realize their dreams.
Sven Mauleon and Gaweechat Joompaula
East meets West!
About our founders Sven Mauleon and Gaweechat Joompaula. Sven, from Sweden, and Gaweechat, from Thailand, once set out to find how to use IT to help poor kids.
We wanted to bridge knowledge divides using IT and the internet and included English learning. Since then we have bridged knowledge and culture divides together with volunteers and local people, old and young.
Read About: Sven in leading Swedish newspaper, Goteborgs Posten.
Gaweechat: ‘I grew up without electricity but got a chance to learn to use computers and believe in learning by doing.’
Meet the team
Co-Founders
Gaweechat Joompaula is a self-taught computer expert and dedicated social entrepreneur who co-founded OpenmindProjects in 2001. Originally from a rice farming family in Thailand, Gaweechat was driven to use technology to empower disadvantaged youth in his community. He began by teaching orphans computer skills and built the organization's first website. Over the years, Gaweechat has played a crucial role in expanding OpenmindProjects' reach across Southeast Asia. He is passionate about providing educational opportunities and believes in a "Learning by Doing" approach that makes technology accessible to all.
Core Team
Natthaphon (Pond Paul) Nonnachaeng
Project Coordinator, Facilitator and MC, Thailand
Ranjan Bhandari
Project Coordinator and Volunteer Contact, Nepal
Gorawan (Khai) Joompaula
Administrative Officer, Project Coordinator, Thailand
Pharinya (James) Auttho
Project Coordinator, Thailand, Laos
Thitichaya (Mui) Boonsom
Project Director and Volunteer Contact, Thailand
Advisers and Partners
Murray Buchanan
Technical Advisory, Scotland
Jim Brown
Advisory, United States of America
Hear it from our volunteers
Ready to make an impact?
Since 2001, OpenmindProjects has delivered 200+ Active Learning Camps and supported 6,000+ young learners across Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Nepal.
Volunteer at our Training Center, lead a camp in a rural community, or help fund field projects that keep education going year-round.