The political engagement of Vietnamese Americans is often complex, which is why this episode dives into how to increase their engagement in progressive and Democratic leaning campaigns. Leaders of the Progressive Vietnamese American Organization (PIVOT) sat down with us to explore the interaction between history, culture, language and generational dynamics that shape Vietnamese Americans' involvement in U.S. politics. Our guests also shared how PIVOT is the go-to-source to combat misinformation that is widely circulating within Vietnamese American communities across the nation. Co-Founder and President Dr. Tung Nguyen and Research Lead of PIVOT’s VietFact Check project Nick Nguyen shares their insights to how Vietnamese Americans respond and interact with American politics.
Dr. Tung Nguyen is the co-founder and president of PIVOT. He fled the Vietnam War as a child refugee. Currently, Dr. Nguyen is a general internist and Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. As a community-engaged health equity researcher, Dr. Nguyen has worked with Vietnamese American communities on health promotion projects since 2000. Dr. Nguyen is also the former Chair of President Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Nick Nguyen in the Research Lead of VietFact Check - a PIVOT project that empowers Vietnamese Americans with fact-checked, source-verified analysis and rebuttals in English and Vietnamese to combat the onslaught of misinformation circulating widely in Vietnamese American communities. His parents were refugees from South Vietnam who fled the persecution of the Communist North Vietnamese regime in 1975. Like many Vietnamese Americans, he grew up with conservative politics and became more progressive as his education and career progressed. Nick has spent over two decades of his career in the technology space. Nick joined the PIVOT board to fight the rampant misinformation that affects Vietnamese Americans.
Latest episodes
