Amanda Nguyen

Amanda Ngọc Nguyễn (born October 10, 1991) is an American social entrepreneur, civil rights activist, and suborbital astronaut. She is the founder and chief executive officer of Rise, a non-governmental civil rights organization. Nguyen drafted the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act, a bill that passed unanimously through the United States Congress. Nguyen has also been credited with kickstarting the movement to stop violence against Asian Americans after her video calling for media coverage went viral on February 5, 2021.

In recognition of her work, Nguyen was nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize by Mimi Walters and Zoe Lofgren, and was named one of the 2022 ''Time'' Women of the Year. She has also received the 24th Annual Heinz Award in Public Policy, ''Time'' 100 Next, ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30, and was credited as a Top 100 Global Thinker by Foreign Policy. Furthermore, Nguyen is featured in the 2022 anthology ''We Are Here: 30 Inspiring Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Have Shaped the United States'' by Naomi Hirahara and published by the Smithsonian Institution and Running Press Kids.

On February 27, 2025, it was announced that Nguyen would fly aboard Blue Origin's eleventh spaceflight as a commercial astronaut under the New Shepard program. The Blue Origin NS-31 sub-orbital spaceflight took place on April 14, 2025, making Nguyen the first woman of Vietnamese heritage to fly into space.

Education and career

She graduated from Centennial High School of Corona, California in 2009 and earned a Bachelor of Arts at Harvard University in 2013.

Nguyen interned at NASA in 2011 and 2013. She conducted research on exoplanets at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Nguyen served as the Deputy White House Liaison for the U.S. Department of State. She left her job at the State Department in 2016 to work full-time at Rise. Encouraged by her mentors during her time at NASA, Nguyen aspired to become an astronaut. In 2021 she became a scientist astronaut candidate at the International Institute of Astronautical Sciences researching women's health and menstruation. In 2024, Blue Origin announced that Nguyen would become the first Vietnamese American woman to fly to space on an upcoming New Shepard mission.

On April 14, 2025, Nguyen was the first woman of Vietnamese descent in space aboard the six-woman crew who spent 3 minutes in space. The flight took off at 9:30 AM EDT. Nguyễn's carefully chosen zero-G indicator was a note she'd written to herself years ago, promising that, if she were to pause her astronaut dreams and fight for civil rights, "one day hewould return to hem" Nguyễn, who is also a bioastronautics research scientist, brought a few in-space projects to conduct during the flight. One of those experiments involves testing material for wound dressing in microgravity. Nguyễn stated that the results of this experiment could have applications for women's health in space, where better absorption technology in microgravity conditions would make it possible for engineers to create space-friendly pads or tampons for astronauts who menstruate. It is especially pertinent, seeing as Nguyễn's Blue Origin mission was the first spaceflight in 60 years to not have a man on board.

"Historically, NASA barred women from becoming astronauts, and one of the reasons they cited the most was menstruation," Nguyễn told The Guardian. "That's why I’m doing it."

Nguyen also tested some materials for next-gen spacesuits and a wearable ultrasound patch, both engineered by researchers at MIT, where she used to be a Media Lab Director's Fellow.

169 lotus seeds provided by the Vietnam National Space Center that travelled with Nguyen will later be used to study the effects of space conditions on plant growth.

Activism

In 2013, Nguyen was raped while a student at Harvard University. Nguyen chose not to press charges immediately since she did not feel she had the necessary time and resources to participate in a trial that could potentially last for years. After police officers informed her there was a 15-year statute of limitations for rape in Massachusetts, she decided she would press charges at a later date when she was ready. She had a rape kit performed and discovered that, if she did not report the crime to law enforcement, her rape kit would be destroyed after six months if an extension request was not filed. She was also not given official instructions on how to file for an extension. Nguyen considered this system to be broken, partially because the extension request would be an unnecessary reminder of a traumatizing experience. Nguyen met other survivors with similar stories and concluded that the current legal protections were insufficient.

Rise

In November 2014, Nguyen founded Rise, a nonprofit organisation which is aimed to protect the civil rights of sexual assault and rape survivors. Nguyen headed the organization in her spare time until September 2016. Everyone who works with Rise is a volunteer, and the organization has raised money through GoFundMe. Nguyen explained that the organization was named Rise to "remind us that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can rise and change the world". Nguyen's aim is for Rise to pass a Sexual Assault Survivor Bill of Rights in all 50 U.S. states as well as on the national level. She has also traveled to Japan where a similar bill was presented.

Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act

In July 2015, Nguyen met with US Senator Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire to discuss legislation that would protect survivor rights on the federal level. Legislation that Nguyen had helped draft was introduced to Congress in February 2016 by Shaheen. Nguyen collaborated with Change.org and comedy website Funny or Die to draw attention to the legislation and encourage voters to support it. Nguyen launched a Change.org petition that called on Congress to pass the legislation. The Funny or Die video and Change.org petition received support from Judd Apatow and Patricia Arquette on Twitter. As of February 28, 2016, the Change.org petition gained 60,000 of the 75,000 requested signatures. By October 2016, there were more than 100,000 signatures.

The bill passed through the Senate in May and the House of Representatives in September. It passed unanimously in both chambers of Congress, and was signed into law in October 2016 by President Barack Obama. The law protects, among other rights, the right to have the evidence of a rape kit preserved without charge for the duration of the statute of limitations.

On October 12, 2017, California governor Jerry Brown approved a bill titled "Sexual assault victims: rights".

We the Future portrait

In 2018, Shepard Fairey created a portrait of Amanda Nguyen as part of a series for the Amplifier media lab's We the Future campaign, a collection of commissioned art pieces that were sent to 20,000 middle and high schools around the United States to teach about various grassroots movements.

''What Were You Wearing?''

Since December 2021, Nguyen has hosted and publicized events based on the ''What Were You Wearing?'' exhibits, which were created in 2013 by Jen Brockman and Dr. Mary Wyandt-Hiebert and first installed at the University of Arkansas in 2014. The exhibits were inspired by Dr. Mary Simmerling’s poem ''What I Was Wearing'', copyrighted in 2005, a widely cited literary piece that continues to serve as the conceptual and linguistic foundation of the global ''What Were You Wearing?'' movement. Nguyen’s contributions have included hosting and promoting modified presentations of the exhibit, such as a fashion show at New York Fashion Week featuring models who were survivors of sexual assault.

Works

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Awards and honors

; Awards and prizes
* 2016 – Young Women's Honors Award, ''Marie Claire''
* 2016 – Top 100 Global Thinkers, ''Foreign Policy''
* 2017 – 2017 Women's March Honored Guest and Speaker
* 2017 – ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30, ''Forbes''
* 2017 – 40 Women to Watch, ''The Tempest''
* 2018 – The Frederick Douglass 200 List
* 2019 – Nelson Mandela Changemaker Award
* 2019 – 24th Annual Heinz Awards in Public Policy
* 2019 – ''Vanity Fair'' Global Goals, '' Vanity Fair''
* 2019 – ''Time'' 100 Next, ''Time''
* 2021 – She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women
* 2022 – ''Time'' Women of the Year, ''Time''

Personal life

Born in California, Nguyen resides in Washington, D.C.

References

External links

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Rise Sexual Assault Bill of Rights Achievement Timeline image.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Amanda
Sexual abuse victim advocates
American organization founders
Harvard University alumni
American people of Vietnamese descent
Living people
21st-century American women
1991 births
People who have flown in suborbital spaceflight
New Shepard passengers
Space tourists