Amanda Nguyen

Amanda Ngọc Nguyễn (born Oct 1991) is a Vietnamese-American social entrepreneur, civil rights activist, and commercial astronaut. In 2014 she founded Rise, a non-governmental civil rights organization that works to implement a sexual assault survivors' bill of rights. She drafted the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act, a bill that passed unanimously through the United States Congress. She has also been credited with kickstarting the movement to stop violence against Asian Americans, after her video calling for media coverage went viral in February 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 received several awards, and was credited as a Top 100 Global Thinker by Foreign Policy. Her memoir, Saving Five, was published in March 2025 and debuted on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Nguyen flew aboard Blue Origin's 11th spaceflight 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. During the flight, Nguyen conducted scientific experiments, including one related to wound dressing in microgravity.

Early life and education Amanda Ngọc Nguyễn in California. She is the daughter of Vietnamese boat people who migrated to the United States after the Vietnam War.

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

Career Nguyen interned at NASA in 2011 and 2013. She conducted research on exoplanets at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

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 February 27, 2025, it was announced that Nguyen would fly aboard Blue Origin's 11th spaceflight under the New Shepard program. The Blue Origin NS-31 sub-orbital spaceflight took place on April 14, 2025,

Nguyễn said that she was doing it because NASA had historically barred women from becoming astronauts, frequently citing menstruation as the reason. During the flight, Nguyen conducted scientific experiments, including one related to wound dressing in microgravity. The Vietnam National Space Center provided 169 lotus seeds that travelled with Nguyen, to be used to study the effects of space conditions on plant growth. 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.

Advocacy

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 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. and the organization has raised money through GoFundMe.

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. Nguyen launched a Change.org petition that called on Congress to pass the legislation.

The bill passed through the Senate in May and was signed into law in October 2016 by President Barack Obama.

Other advocacy Nguyen has 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. Nguyen had previously spoken out against racism against Asian Americans in the United States. In July 2018, in a now deleted Instagram post, Nguyen alleged that Neiman Marcus had refused to sell her the dress she wore to announce her Nobel Peace Prize nomination due to her race. She wrote, "When I went to buy it at Neiman Marcus they refused to let me buy it. When I asked why, they said they didn’t take cards like mine. (It’s a MasterCard)." She continued, "Neiman Marcus didn’t think that someone who looks like me could afford a dress like that (...) For so many marginalized members of our community, it does not matter how much money we make or how successful we can be – one can be nominated for a Nobel and still experience this racism, sexism, ageism.”

Memoir Her memoir, Saving Five, was published in March 2025 and debuted on the New York Times Best Seller list.

Recognition and honors In 2018, Shepard Fairey, an American activist artist, created a portrait of 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.

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. Forbes 30 Under 30,

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.

In November 2025, Vogue Singapore featured Nguyen on a digital cover for their Vogue Voices series. This marked the first time a Vietnamese woman had been featured on a solo Vogue cover.

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 – 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 2020 – SXSW Community Service Award 2021 – She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women 2022 – Time Women of the Year, Time 2023 – A100 Honoree, Goldhouse 2025 – Honorary Fulbright Scholar, Fulbright University Vietnam 2025 – Tatler Impact Awards: Humanity Award, Tatler Asia