A tech entrepreneur's inspiring journey of resilience

In 1985, when he arrived in New Zealand as a refugee at the age of 14, Mitchell Pham ONZM FCPA had spent nine months locked in an open-air bamboo prison camp in his homeland Vietnam. He had also survived a terrifying journey across the ocean on a rickety fishing boat and spent two years in an Indonesian refugee camp.

When he got to New Zealand, he was alone. His parents had managed to save just enough money to send him to safety and a better life as Vietnam struggled in the aftermath of a civil war. It meant that he had to leave behind his parents and younger siblings.

For a long time, he was driven by a burning mission to reunite his family, a happy day that did not come until 13 years later.

By the time he returned for a visit to Vietnam, Pham had earned a business degree from the University of Auckland while holding down two part-time jobs, all so that he could save money to send to his family.

It took 30 years for his siblings to be able to get visas to join him in New Zealand, and this has fundamentally shaped his approach to life.

“It created a hole in me – family is not just important to me, it is the centre of my universe,” he says in a TVNZ documentary.

A leading tech entrepreneur, Pham made his mark as a successful business operator and has played a major part in the establishment and growth of New Zealand’s technology sector.

“I experienced and witnessed a lot of trauma as a refugee, and that journey has shaped me. It gives me the drive to always strive to better myself and to build a better life for my family. That drive is very, very strong,” Pham says.

Pham co-founded CodeHQ in 1993, which develops software for businesses in many industry sectors, including financial services. As a consultant and adviser, he also helps other companies to accelerate digital transformation and build operational maturity.

 

"I experienced and witnessed a lot of trauma as a refugee, and that journey has shaped me. It gives me the drive to always strive to better myself and to build a better life for my family."

 

While he may not have a background in accounting, Pham says he values how essential financial expertise is for the development and growth of tech and non-tech businesses.

“Having my own tech businesses and being involved with boards of other companies, I see first-hand every day how accounting and finance expertise and professionals play a critical role at the daily operations level, as well as governance and strategy at board level.

“Being involved with the development of New Zealand’s strategy for becoming a more advanced digital economy has shown me how important it is for financial experts to understand digital technologies and how they affect economic, commercial and monetisation models of business and international trade," Pham says.

Pham was presented with an honorary lifetime membership of CPA Australia in 2022.

A refugee champion

Alongside his passion for business, Pham has continued to advocate for the refugee community in New Zealand and has co-founded two not-for-profit organisations to help refugees adapt to their new country.

“My entrepreneurial side drives me to build and succeed in business. At the same time, the other half of me cannot forget where I came from – the community of millions of people and families who have been displaced from their own home countries,” he says.

“I want to help make it easier for other refugees to adapt to their new country and reunite with their families if they can.”