What PCL #CommunityForGood does

PCL (People for Care and Learning in Cambodia), branded as PCL #CommunityForGood, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2002 and headquartered in Mobile, Alabama, with an Asia Pacific office in Singapore. The organization addresses poverty through an integrated portfolio of five core program areas: Children's Homes providing holistic orphan care; Sustainable Farming with micro-enterprise projects such as the Mushroom Project and Integrated Training Farm; Community Development, exemplified by the Build A City project that has provided homes to over 900 families in Andong Village; Educational Centers including the PCL Management Institute (free associate's degree with transfer pathway via Asia Euro University) and learning centers serving approximately 130 students per term; and Social Enterprises comprising Common Grounds Café (operating since 2008) and Bonfire Grill (launched 2020), which generate revenue while providing vocational training to impoverished Cambodians. Additional programs include Critical Incident Response (CIR) for disaster relief and the Sponsor A Child monthly subscription sponsorship program.

PCL serves vulnerable populations across Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos, with primary operations in Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Takam Village, and Andong Village in Cambodia. Its beneficiary base spans orphans, widows, rural farmers, students, displaced families, and at-risk youth. Revenue is generated via a mix of individual and organizational charitable donations, recurring monthly child sponsorships, and commercial revenue from the two social enterprise restaurants, with profits from social enterprises funding Cambodia programs. The organization operates community-led, direct-to-consumer, and event-driven go-to-market motions through digital channels (website, blog, Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Vimeo, email newsletter) and in-person mission trips.

The organization is led by Executive Director Travis Johnson with a leadership team that includes Chief of Operations Fred Toke, Chairman Scott Sheppard, and Cambodia Country Director Isaac Lutz. The US team is lean (1-10 employees) while Cambodian operations are staffed primarily by local personnel, with full transition of Common Grounds management to Cambodian staff completed in 2015. PCL has earned Charity Navigator Four Star Rating (2025) and Common Grounds Café has held Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence for five consecutive years.

Name

PCL #CommunityForGood

Legal name

People for Care and Learning in Cambodia

Website

https://pcl.is

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

PCL #CommunityForGood is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates an integrated portfolio of children's homes, sustainable farming, community development, educational centers, and social enterprises to alleviate poverty across Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Cleveland, TN

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, PCL relies on charitable donations from individuals, churches, and organizations to fund their programs and operations.
2. Sponsor A Child Program: Monthly sponsorship program where donors provide ongoing support for children's needs including school fees, healthcare, nutrition, and caretakers.
3. Social Enterprises: Common Grounds Café and Bonfire Grill are social enterprises that generate revenue while providing job training and employment to impoverished Cambodians. Profits support PCL projects in Cambodia.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

PCL is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that delivers poverty alleviation programs in Cambodia and Southeast Asia through five integrated pillars: Children's Homes, Sustainable Farming, Community Development (Build-a-City), Educational Centers, and Social Enterprises. The organization combines direct humanitarian services (residential care, schools) with sustainable development (farming, social enterprises) to transform underserved communities, supplemented by a Critical Incident Response program for trafficking intervention and a Sponsor-A-Child recurring donation program.

Product overview

PCL (People for Care and Learning) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operating as a portfolio of social programs focused on breaking the cycle of poverty through holistic, sustainable solutions. The organization consists of five core program areas: Children's Homes providing orphan care, Sustainable Farming with micro-enterprise projects, Community Development through the Build a City initiative, Educational Centers including the PCL Management Institute and Learning Centers, and Social Enterprises comprising Common Grounds Café and Bonfire Grill restaurants. Additional programs include the Critical Incident Response (CIR) disaster relief initiative and the Sponsor A Child program. The organization operates across Cambodia (Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Takam Village), Sri Lanka (Colombo), Thailand (Chiang Mai), Laos, and Myanmar, with headquarters in Mobile, Alabama.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Common Grounds Café: Social enterprise restaurant in Siem Reap that hires and provides on-the-job vocational training to poor and uneducated young people from impoverished areas across Cambodia. Has trained and employed over 100 Cambodians since 2008.
• Bonfire Grill
• PCL Management Institute
• PCL Learning Center
• Takam Community School
• Critical Incident Response (CIR)
• Hope Children's Home

Products and services

• Children's Homes Residential care and family-style homes for orphaned, abandoned, and at-risk children in PCL's Southeast Asia communities. Provides housing, nutrition, healthcare, education access, and spiritual development for children who would otherwise lack stable care.
• Sustainable Farming Program Agricultural training and farming initiatives including rabbit husbandry and other sustainable farming techniques that provide food security and income generation for partner communities in Cambodia and Southeast Asia.
• Build-a-City Community Development Integrated community development program that builds physical and social infrastructure (homes, schools, clean water wells, roads, community facilities) within underserved Southeast Asian villages as part of a long-term holistic transformation strategy.
• Educational Centers K-12 schools operated in PCL's partner communities across Southeast Asia, providing formal education, vocational training, and after-school programs to children from impoverished backgrounds.
• Social Enterprises (Common Grounds) Revenue-generating social enterprises, most notably Common Grounds (a café and retail concept operational since 2008), whose profits are channeled back into PCL's humanitarian programs in Cambodia and Southeast Asia.
• Critical Incident Response (CIR)

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 100 Cambodians trained and employed since 2008 at Common Grounds Café, now working in top restaurants and hotels across Cambodia
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Habitat for HumanitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 March 2015PCL partnered with Habitat for Humanity for the Build A City project. Habitat for Humanity hosted hundreds of young adult volunteers at the construction site to help build homes for displaced families in the Andong Village community development.
• Asia Euro UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 March 2015PCL Management Institute (PMI) finalized partnership with Asia Euro University allowing students to transfer credits and earn an accredited bachelor's degree. Students can complete two years at PMI then transfer as third-year students to AEU at a discounted rate.
• Lee University Business DepartmentminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Lee University Business Department to create the Integrated Farm in Takam Village. University provided expertise for designing the integrated farming system where all animals and processes rely on one another for sustainability.
• YWAM (Youth With A Mission)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAfter graduating high school, PCL children attend a six-month YWAM experience. After returning, PCL helps them pursue university or vocational training paths.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mercy Corps: Global humanitarian and development organization addressing poverty through integrated economic, social, and resilience programs. PCL's holistic approach across health, education, livelihoods, and housing aligns with Mercy Corps' multi-sector model.
• Compassion International: Faith-based child sponsorship and holistic child development organization operating across multiple developing countries. PCL's combination of child sponsorship, educational centers, and community development parallels Compassion's integrated child-and-community model.
• Holt International: Child welfare organization with sponsorship, adoption, and family-strengthening programs across Asia. Both organizations focus on vulnerable children, sponsorship models, and cross-border operations including Cambodia.
• World Relief: Faith-based international humanitarian organization working on community development, child welfare, and disaster response in multiple countries. PCL shares World Relief's integrated approach combining child welfare, education, and community rebuilding.
• Habitat for Humanity: International nonprofit focused on affordable housing and community development. PCL partnered directly with Habitat for Humanity on the Build A City project, and both organizations combine housing delivery with community mobilization in low-income settings.
• Children International: Child sponsorship organization supporting education, health, and youth development in low-income communities. PCL's Sponsor A Child and educational programs share a similar mission and donor-engagement model.
• Samaritan's Purse: Christian relief and development organization with international programs in community development, child sponsorship, and disaster response. PCL's Critical Incident Response program, children's homes, and faith-based community work are directly comparable.
• World Vision: Large international Christian NGO operating child sponsorship, community development, and disaster response programs across dozens of countries. PCL's Sponsor A Child, Children's Homes, and Build A City portfolios closely mirror World Vision's child- and community-focused model, but at a much smaller scale.

Emerging players

• Friends International: NGO operating social enterprises (restaurants, bakeries, boutiques) in Cambodia and Southeast Asia to provide vocational training to at-risk youth. Strong parallel to PCL's Common Grounds and Bonfire Grill social enterprise model.
• Agape International Ministries: Smaller faith-based nonprofit operating in Cambodia focused on rescue, restoration, and vocational training. Highly comparable to PCL in geography and program mix (rescue homes, social enterprises, training) but with a narrower scope.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/peopleforcare
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@peopleforcare
• Facebookfacebook.com/peopleforcare
• Instagraminstagram.com/pcl.is
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/people-for-care-&-learning

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PCL #CommunityForGood