Vojtech Zehnalek

Recommendation for Ms. Nhi Vo

Dear Members of the Scholarship Selection Committee,

It is a privilege to recommend Ms. Nhi Vo for admission and scholarship consideration for the Master in Public Policy, Leadership and Management concentration at the Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management.

I worked closely with Nhi during my tenure as Chief Executive Officer of InCorp Vietnam, where she served as Marketing Manager. In this capacity, I had the opportunity to observe her performance not only as a marketing professional, but also as a manager, organizational leader, and agent of constructive change. Among the managers reporting within the organization, Nhi consistently distinguished herself through her strategic judgment, initiative, and ability to develop people and translate long-term priorities into practical action.

One of Nhi’s strongest qualities is her capacity for strategic and systematic thinking. She did not approach marketing as a collection of isolated campaigns or short-term commercial activities. She examined how the structure of the marketing function, the capabilities of the team, and the selection and management of external vendors needed to support the company’s broader direction. She took ownership of restructuring both the internal marketing team and our relationships with marketing vendors so that resources, responsibilities, and execution were better aligned with the company’s long-term strategy. This required her to assess existing arrangements critically, identify structural weaknesses, coordinate multiple stakeholders, and implement changes without disrupting ongoing operations.

Nhi was also the strongest manager in the organization in identifying and mobilizing talent. Through her professional networks and personal initiative, she was able to source capable people externally when the team required new expertise. More importantly, she did not depend solely on recruiting experienced professionals. She invested substantial effort in training junior colleagues, transferring knowledge, setting clear expectations, and creating an environment in which less-experienced employees could develop quickly. Her leadership combined high standards with accessibility and positive energy, enabling her team to achieve strong performance while maintaining a high level of engagement.

The quality of the environment Nhi created was reflected in the results of our Great Place to Work certification process. Her team received the strongest employee-experience score within the company. Although such a result is necessarily collective, it was consistent with what I observed directly: Nhi built trust, encouraged ownership, maintained team spirit during demanding periods, and helped colleagues understand how their individual work contributed to wider organizational objectives.

Nhi’s influence also extended beyond her formal responsibilities. She is proactive, constructive, and consistently willing to contribute when she sees an opportunity to improve an organization or support others. Her positive and high-energy approach had a noticeable effect on colleagues and on the broader working environment. She does not treat leadership merely as authority over a team. She treats it as responsibility for people, systems, and outcomes.

These qualities make Nhi particularly well suited to advanced study in public policy, leadership, and management. Her professional record demonstrates that she can diagnose organizational issues, assume ownership of complex change, develop the capabilities of others, and align implementation with long-term objectives. I believe the Fulbright program would enable her to extend these abilities beyond an individual corporate setting and apply them to challenges requiring collaboration across organizations, sectors, and communities.

Nhi has my strong and unreserved recommendation. I am confident that she would contribute actively to the Fulbright community and use the knowledge, analytical frameworks, and relationships gained through the program to create meaningful and sustainable impact in Vietnam.