Maggie Doyne

A social entrepreneur who transformed the lives of thousands of marginalized children in Cambodia through her innovative community-based approach.

Maggie Doyne (born 1980) is an American social entrepreneur renowned for founding the Kids of Cambodia in 2006, a nonprofit organization that has become a global model for community-driven child welfare. Growing up in Kentucky with a traumatic childhood, Doyne first traveled to Cambodia in 2003 where she was deeply moved by the plight of street children. Her breakthrough came when she purchased a plot of land in Battambang using her life savings, establishing the first community home for orphans and vulnerable children.

What distinguishes Doyne's work is her holistic approach: instead of traditional orphanages, she created a sustainable ecosystem where children receive education, healthcare, and vocational training while remaining connected to their local communities. By 2023, her network includes 12 community centers across Cambodia, providing shelter for over 2,000 children and employing 400 local staff. Her model emphasizes economic empowerment through programs like the Kiva microloan initiative, which has generated over $1.2 million in small business loans for families.

Doyne's philosophy of 'radical empathy' challenges traditional charity paradigms by prioritizing community ownership. Her memoir The Sky is Not the Limit (2018) details her journey and the principles guiding her work. In 2020, she expanded operations to Ukraine through Kids of Ukraine, demonstrating the replicability of her model in crisis zones. Her work has been featured in TIME magazine and BBC documentaries, though she remains critical of Western media's 'poverty porn' tendencies.