Amanda Ngoc Nguyễn is a social entrepreneur, civil rights activist, and the chief executive officer and founder 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 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 be part of the crew for Blue Origin's eleventh flight to space under the New Shepard program, along with Katy Perry, Aisha Bowe, Kerianne Flynn and journalists Gayle King and Lauren Sánchez. The launch is expected to take place in spring 2025. Nguyen would become the first Vietnamese woman to fly to space.
