The Global Village Foundation was established in 1999 by Le Ly Hayslip, a Vietnamese-American who grew up in a poor village in central Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Her life story has been the inspiration for several internationally published articles, books and films. She is the author of two autobiographical bestsellers, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places and Child of War, Woman of Peace, which were adapted into the 1994 film Heaven and Earth, directed by Oliver Stone and released by Warner Bros.

In 1986, Hayslip returned to Vietnam after a 16-year absence and was stunned by the devastation, poverty and illnesses left by the U.S./Vietnam War. Seeing an opportunity to make a difference, she founded the East Meets West Foundation and became a bridge builder, by providing aid to rebuild her motherland and helping to open the dialogue between the U.S. and Vietnam. The positive progress of healing has been remarkable. Having accomplished her initial mission, Hayslip founded the GVF to empower others. A new documentary, From War to Peace and Beyond, was recently produced for the 2006 Bridge of Peace Awards as a pilot for a longer film on Ms. Le Ly Hayslip and the history of GVF and Le Ly's work in Vietnam to be released in 2007.

It is said that in war, heaven and earth change places not once but many times. Le Ly (Lay Lee) Hayslip’s book, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, is the haunting memoir of a girl on the verge of womanhood in a world turned upside down. The youngest of six children in a closely knit Buddhist family, Le Ly was twelve years old when the U.S. helicopters landed in Ky La, her tiny village in central Vietnam. As the government and Viet Cong troops fought in and around Ky La, both sides recruited children as spies and saboteurs. Le Ly was one of those children. Before the age of 16, Le Ly had suffered near-starvation, imprisonment, torture, rape, and the deaths of beloved family members. Miraculously, she held fast to her faith in humanity.

Hayslip’s best-selling books When Heaven and Earth Changed Places and Child of War, Woman of Peace are currently in use as curriculum at numerous universities across the country for Asian studies, literature, Women’s studies, and Vietnam conflict courses. They been published in 17 different languages throughout the world. In 1994, Hayslip’s books about her life growing up in war torn Vietnam, were adapted for the silver screen by Academy Award winning director Oliver Stone. The film titled, Heaven and Earth, as well as her books are among the few published sources describing life during the war from the Vietnamese perspective.