Dr. Nguyen has more than 30 years of experience in non-profit sector and 25 years of experience in leadership development, project, program and portfolio management and consulting. Dr. Nguyen believes the future is in the hands of the young. Her accomplishments include the establishment of the Vietnamese Youth Center of Toronto, Canada; the National Youth Leadership Development Camp “Len Duong” for young community activists from across USA and Canada; and the hosting of numerous community programs aimed at developing Asian-American youths and young adults. Dr. Nguyen is currently the Co-Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Vietnamese Culture and Science Association (www.vcsa.org). In 2012, she was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the Board of Vietnam Education Foundation (www.vef.gov), a national foundation established by US government to foster the relationship between United States and Vietnam through education. In 2014, she was the elected Board Chair and she served this role until the last board term in 2016. The foundation established a strong bridge between USA and Vietnam through educational exchange and scientific research collaboration initiatives and helped to train 600+ Ph.D. and Masters’ students in Science and Technology, Mathematics and Environmental Science.
Dr. Nguyen has received numerous awards and recognitions including “Top 30 Influential Women of Houston” Award by D-MAR communication; and “Americanism Medal” by The Honor Society of Daughters of American Revolution (DAR) in 2017; “Top 25 Women in Houston” award by Comerica Bank and Steed Society in 2010; “Asian American Heritage Award in Science and Technology” by Asian Heritage Society in San Diego, California in 2013; “Texas Women’s Leadership Empowerment” by Texas Women Empowerment Foundation in 2011.

Dr. Nguyen graduated Summa-Cum-Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science in 1989 and received a master’s in Computer Science from the University of Toronto, Canada, in 1993. She attained her Doctoral Degree in Business Administration specialized in Project Management from Northcentral University in 2015. Her doctoral thesis title was “Relationship between IT Project Managers’ Emotional Intelligence and their Project Success”. Beside her life-long non-profit work, Dr. Nguyen is also a seasoned IT Portfolio Management professional with a PMP Certification and 25 years of IT project, program and portfolio management experience. She served as the IT Portfolio Manager at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas for 14 years before transitioning full-time to non-profit and education sector.