My Framer Site

Researcher at a

Global Movement

Accelerator - AGO.

Article Group Org - "We’re using strategic communications and bold civic initiatives to accelerate positive social change."

This project was conducted in collaboration with Article Group Org to support initiatives aimed at assisting marginalized communities and post-crisis economic rebuilding in Myanmar. The research examined the role of technology in economic recovery and the structural conditions necessary for effective rebuilding.

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Rebuilding from the Ground Up: Research for Myanmar's Economic Recovery

I conducted a comparative analysis of post-crisis recovery strategies to inform Myanmar’s rebuilding efforts. By examining economic recovery in Vietnam, South Korea, Rwanda, and Cuba, I found that secure land tenure, reliable infrastructure, gender equality, and accessible education form the foundation of successful economic rebuilding, with technological advancement serving as a supporting accelerator.

Role: Researcher | Timeline: June - September 2025 | Organization: AGO

Research Methodology

Literary Reviews

Comparative Analysis

Expert Interiews

Reviewed 30+ academic sources on post-conflict economics, digital inclusion, and gender equity to analyze global recovery models and extract key strategies relevant to Myanmar's context.

Conducted comparative analysis of post-crisis recovery strategies from Vietnam's Đổi Mới, South Korea's Saemaul Undong, Rwanda's Vision 2020, and Cuba's National Literacy Campaign.

Conducted in-depth interviews with 3 experts (artist/activist, entrepreneur, manufacturer) working in and outside of Myanmar to gather first hand insights.

The Problem

Myanmar faces economic collapse following the 2021 military coup and COVID 19:

18% GDP decrease (2021)
16.23% inflation (2022)
9,195+ refugees fled by boat (2024)
Grassroots groups launching scattered, non uniform recovery efforts

Research Question: What recovery strategies from other post-crisis countries can inform Myanmar's rebuilding and what roles can technology play?

Key Insights from User Interviews

Picture used for visual purposes only, this is not Natalie.
Activism and sustainable living: The most sustainable support comes through digital channels and exhibitions, not donor funding. A lot of people expect activists to be able to do their work pro bono, but they need sustainable means of living to stay active.
Natalie
Creative Director, Diaspora Arts Collective
Natalie is a creative director and activist for an arts collective located in Thailand, consisting of other artists and activists from Myanmar's diaspora groups. She is currently working in the culinary industry as a day time job while simultaneously managing her collective and their projects.
From Natalie, we were able to learn some key insights:
Trust & Social Cohesion: Cultural work strengthens diaspora identity and community bonds.
"People think artists can do it pro bono. They are often in exile, they can't legally work. How can we create an economic system within this community?"
Picture used for visual purposes only, this is not Caroline.
Placing women at the forefront: She strives to create business models that honor and treat women fairly. She prioritizes community cohesion over pure profit. Women-led initiatives must be central to Myanmar's rebuilding.
Caroline
Social enterprise owner exporting goods from Myanmar to Thailand
Caroline runs a sustainable business exporting products made by local entrepreneurs and creators inside Myanmar to her shop in Thailand. She operates primarily through Instagram and Facebook, connecting Myanmar artisans to global markets. Her business runs entirely on profits from sales, not NGO funding, proving the viability of women-led sustainable enterprises.
From Caroline, we learned important insights:
Sustainable business vs. donor dependency: Her business operates without external funding. This demonstrates that profit-based models can support businesses while maintaining ethical practices.
"Women are worshiped as mothers but asked to bleed to death for the people around them. This is a barrier I want to take down."
Picture used for visual purposes only, this is not Kyle.
Technology cannot substitute for physical infrastructure: Kyle emphasized that digital solutions and land redistribution won't solve the core problem. Land redistribution and technological applications help, but farmers still can't access the river water they need due to unclear policies and lack of care for farmers from the government. Technology tips are band-aids on broken physical systems that need to be tackled with policy changes.
Kyle
Agricultural goods manufacturer in Myanmar
Kyle owns an agricultural goods manufacturing company in Myanmar. Since the 2021 coup and the COVID-19 pandemic, he has witnessed widespread economic disruption. These instabilities have made it difficult for him to maintain his operations, protect his crops, and retain his employees.
Kyle raises key concerns:
"Land redistribution will help rural communities, but that isn't enough. It (the farms) is near the the Irrawaddy river, but they rely on the rain, so why can’t farmers access the river water? "

Key Insights from Literary Reviews

Land rights come first: Vietnam’s Đổi Mới reforms secured land ownership, enabling agricultural growth and poverty reduction before technological infrastructure was introduced.

Infrastructure matters: South Korea’s rural development raised incomes, but uneven investment widened urban–rural gaps without equity.
Education mobilizes society: Cuba’s literacy campaign strengthened trust between urban and rural communities.
Women lead rebuilding: Rwanda’s high female political representation shifted women from beneficiaries to leaders, strengthening social cohesion.
Technology supports, not leads: Digital tools can help farmers in Myanmar, but without electricity or infrastructure, tech alone cannot succeed.
Trust enables growth: Across cases, strong social foundations and citizen unity mattered more than external funding or rapid technological fixes.

Sequencing matters

Implementation of technology needs strong foundations

Women are central

Trust precedes growth

For safety purposes, all names are pseudonyms and any personal information has been concealed.

Based on Vietnam, South Korea, Rwanda, Cuba, and Myanmar itself

Bottom-up Framework for Post-Crisis Economic Recovery

START HERE

Requires

infrastructure

Enables

participation

Strengthens

everything

below

GENDER INCLUSION AS STRATEGY

Women's leadership strengthens recovery outcomes across all sectors

Rwanda: Women hold 60% parliament seats → reshaped governance and social inclusion

Cuba: 250k female literacy volunteers → challenged gender norms, bridged urban-rural divide

LAND SECURITY & INFRASTRUCTURE

Secure land rights + physical systems enable production and investment

Vietnam: 1993 Land Law (land redistribution) → farmers invested → reduced poverty → major rice exporter

Kyle: "Land redistribution helps but farmers can't access river water" → policy without infrastructure fails

Myanmar currently: Only 37% of household in Myanmar have access to electricity as of 2017

COMMUNITY-LED DEVELOPMENT

Local coordination builds trust and creates "snowball effect" across regions

South Korea: Village projects → rural incomes approached urban levels → success motivated neighbors

However: Development concentrated Seoul-Busan → rural areas depopulated by 1980s (unequal growth)

HUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENT

Education enables non-agricultural income and reduces poverty

Cuba: Literacy 60-76% → near universal → reduced social distance, enabled civic participation

Myanmar: Non-agricultural income = 13.2% poverty vs 45.8% poverty for agricultural-only households

SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC RECOVERY

TECHNOLOGY

AS A TOOL

When the system is designed with women in mind:

Increase in gender equality gives women more footing in places like internet cafes and mobile phone ownership. Instagram/Facebook enables women to conduct business on digital platforms, seek out national and international opportunities. Women can run for parliment and drive change easier with technology as a tool.

When households are literate:

Technology can spread messages faster and update communities in real time. Makes conveying information and trading easier and more efficient. Technology also gives households a gateway to try different jobs other than agriculture.

When trust exists locally:

People coordinate more effectively on platforms. Applications like KoneSi which connect farmers with truck drivers have more trust → jobs born and products sold easily.

When electricity + roads exist:

Apps improve efficiency of

existing systems such as Golden Paddy

(satellite crop monitoring, crowdfunding, weather forcasting,...)

Impact & Next Steps

Deliverable: Framework + 16 page research paper shared with:

AGO team
Local organizers in Myanmar
Partner networks

Next Phase: Broader survey to capture wider movement needs and conduct deeper research into current state on the ground.

My Role: Researched and reported 4 national case studies + 3 expert interviews into a holistic report for key stakeholders.

What I learned

I began this research assuming that technology would be at the forefront of economic rebuilding. What I found instead reflected what many communities were witnessing in reality: people need stable foundations before adopting any technological help.

In every successful case, secure land, reliable infrastructure, and access to education came first.

This realization changed how I approach design. Before solutions and quick fixes, what is at the core of the issue? Who is being left out and what needs to exist for them to benefit?

I approach design now understanding that even the most thoughtful interface cannot compensate for missing foundations.

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