Amanda Nguyen — SPARQNOW

At-a-Glance

Nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize and named one of the 2022 Time Women of the Year.
CEO and Founder of Rise, a non-governmental civil rights organization, since 2014.
Drafted the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act, which passed unanimously through the United States Congress.
Became the first Vietnamese American woman to fly to space on Blue Origin's NS-31 sub-orbital spaceflight on April 14, 2025.
Served as Deputy White House Liaison at the U.S. Department of State (2015-2016) and interned at NASA (2011, 2013).
Graduated from Harvard University in 2013 and was an MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow.

Biography

Amanda Nguyen is an American social entrepreneur, civil rights activist, and commercial astronaut. She is the founder and chief executive officer of Rise, a non-governmental civil rights organization established in 2014. Nguyen is recognized for drafting the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act, a bill that passed unanimously through the United States Congress.