Vietnamese Refugee Invests in Future Generations to Help Them Grow Up as Successful Vietnamese and Americans

In 1981, 16-year-old Quyen Vuong and her family came to America as Vietnamese refugees. They took a harrowing sea journey, encountered Thai pirates and nearly capsized. Then, once the family arrived in the states, they were constantly at risk of eviction. “My dad worked at a convenience store, and my two siblings and I worked 30 hours a week after school just to survive,” Vuong says.

She learned English, and with the help of scholarships, graduated from Yale University and business school at Stanford University. Her plan was to pursue international business, but she changed her mind after receiving a Fulbright Fellowship to work inside a Vietnamese refugee camp. “I realized my heart was in nonprofits because I wanted to make life better for the refugees who had experienced the same wartime trauma,” Vuong says. Upon returning to Santa Clara County, she began collecting donations from local immigrants to help children in central Vietnam attend school. Over time, she began advocating for immigrants in her adopted homeland. “Santa Clara County has the highest number of Vietnamese outside Vietnam, and I wanted to boost the community here and help them set down roots,” she says.

In 2000, Vuong founded International Children Assistance Network (ICAN) to help Vietnamese parents navigate American customs, particularly around parenting and child discipline. “One county official said he was concerned about the traditional Vietnamese view that parents should be stern with their children and not show affection,” she says. “He asked why they didn’t come to the county’s parenting classes.”

Through ICAN, Vuong began teaching culturally sensitive, scientifically backed classes in child nurturing and child abuse prevention. “I want future generations to grow up successful as Vietnamese and Americans,” she says.

Later, Vuong secured city, county and foundation funding to support programming for mental health along with anti-domestic abuse and gender-based violence training. Moving forward, Vuong would like to see the county earmark more money for social services and economic development among the smaller Asian minority groups that are struggling. “I don’t want to see Santa Clara treat Asians as one block,” she says. “We have the ability to advance together.”