Episode #366: Schooling the System
RELEASE DATE: JULY 20, 2025
“I always wanted to do good, to help people,” says Sallo Polak—a Dutch humanitarian, founder of Philanthropy Connections Foundation (PCF), and longtime resident of Southeast Asia—expressing the spirit of his decades-long mission to uplift under-resourced communities. For listeners interested in ethical aid, cross-cultural partnerships, and community-driven development along the Thailand-Myanmar border and beyond, Polak’s story offers both inspiration and hard-earned lessons.
Growing up in the Netherlands, Polak was disturbed by the global inequities he saw in media, and a formative, nine-month, overland trip to India at age 18 crystallized his desire to act. It taught him that “there is no them and us. There is a ‘them’ and ‘us’ in terms of opportunities that people have. I was lucky to be born in a rich country.” Upon his return, he studied medicine before switching to documentary filmmaking to educate people in more developed countries about the challenges facing developing nations. When his filmmaking initiatives did not receive as much attention as he had been hoping, Polak took another path, spending several years doing humanitarian work in Laos and Thailand. This experience led to the eventual launch of PCF in 2011. He continues to employ filmmaking in his current role, reviewing the foundation’s videos, advising the communications team, and leveraging storytelling to build networks, fundraise, and mobilize support.
Polak is not a celebrity philanthropist, nor is his foundation a large INGO. But PCF stands out precisely in its humility and human scale. Since its founding in 2011, it has quietly become a lifeline for tens of thousands in Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar, using local networks, language-based empowerment, and strategic partnerships to deliver critical support where it’s most needed.
PCF’s operates on a clear and straightforward model: gain the trust of communities, ensure that they can maintain their dignity, and that communities know best what they need. PCF also does not send Western volunteers to implement projects and prefers not to engage in what he calls “voluntourism.” Volunteers are welcome in the office or in communications roles—if they bring skills that local staff don’t already have—but the priority is always empowering community members to lead. “We listen very carefully to what it is that the organizations and the communities we work with tell us what their problems are,” Polak says. “We listen to what the needs are. We listen to what they think the solutions can be.” Unlike many traditional aid models, PCF does not use an application process. Instead, staff and volunteers—often native speakers of local and ethnic minority languages—seek out groups that are too marginalized or under-resourced to apply for aid elsewhere. “If people can find us, they can find other sponsors as well,” Polak explains. “So maybe they do not need us.”
With this ethos, PCF has grown to an impressive portfolio of 25 to 30 projects annually, serving over 15,000 people, all implemented by trusted local partners. PCF focuses on education, emergency aid, health, sanitation, and nutrition. A standout program is its mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) initiative in northern Thailand, which supports children from ethnic communities like the Akha, Lisu, Lahu, and Karen. These children often grow up speaking only their native language and struggle in government-run Thai schools where instruction is exclusively in Thai. PCF’s initiative trains local bilingual facilitators who teach in both the community’s language and Thai, easing children into fluency over 1–2 years.
After the 2021 Myanmar coup, PCF chose to deepen its support to existing partners already impacted by violence and displacement rather than take on new ones. In part, this decision was a strategic choice. But it also reflects a challenge faced by many humanitarian organizations: financial limitations. “I want to win the lottery,” Polak says, only half-jokingly, in reference to the funding challenges.
So despite its successes, PCF still falls short of what it would ideally like to accomplish. “There’s so much going on in the world, especially at the moment again, and I wished we could do a lot more than we can do.” PCF does coordinate an effective and diverse fundraising strategy for an organization of its size, using personal networks, corporate sponsors, Dutch chambers of commerce, and individual donors across the globe. The Dutch embassy in Thailand has been a crucial supporter, most recently hosting a high-profile fundraising gala at the ambassador’s residence.
PCF also collaborates with international intermediaries like Myriad USA (formerly King Baudouin Foundation) to allow for tax-deductible donations in the United States. The website clearly lays out all donation channels, and every inquiry is responded to “the same day, or at least within three days.” Interested listeners can support financially, share the organization’s story, or connect with Polak directly to explore meaningful involvement.
Yet still, Polak says that so much more could be accomplished if funding were not an ongoing issue. This challenge has forced PCF to become very efficient: just 14 staff manage PCF’s far-flung operations across three countries, which works because of its trust in its grassroots partners. “We do not implement any of the projects ourselves,” Polak emphasizes. “We believe in the power of the local communities and local leadership.” This not only ensures contextual appropriateness, but also scalability and resilience. Each new initiative undergoes a rigorous due diligence process to assess need, trustworthiness, and long-term viability.
One of PCF’s strengths is its ability to respond swiftly to emergencies while maintaining accountability and community focus. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the foundation launched a rapid food relief program in partnership with Monsoon Tea, a Chiang Mai-based restaurant. In just seven months, they provided nearly 40,000 meals and reached 5,000 individuals in 35 communities. This generated a wave of support that carried PCF forward: many donors discovered PCF through its emergency food work, and have stayed on to support education and development initiatives.
Even with limited staff and funds, PCF continues to grow, driven by word-of-mouth support, ethical clarity, its flexible, strategic plan… and Sallo Polak’s own clear yet humble sense of purpose. His closing remarks illustrate this humility and commitment to helping others. “Maybe it’s not winning the lottery, but if we can, through your podcast, get some more sponsors, people who are willing to help, that would be awesome already!”