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Board of Director

DR. THANG NGUYEN - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Arriving in the United States in 1979 as a boat refugee from Vietnam, Dr. Thang graduated from Virginia Tech with a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and worked for 13 years at a research lab in Bethesda, Maryland. He joined BPSOS in 1988 as a volunteer. In 1995 he launched an advocacy campaign that resulted in the resettlement of over 18,000 former boat people from Vietnam to the US. In 1997 Dr. Thang initiated a long-term effort to build capacity for the Vietnamese American community. He has since built BPSOS from a small, all-volunteer organization into the largest Vietnamese-American non-profit organization with operations in a dozen locations in the United States and in three Asian countries and a vast Vietnamese-language mass media network. Simultaneously he has mentored or incubated over 50 faith-based and community organizations and secured $4 million to support their good work.

For the past two decades he has launched many national and international initiatives, including among others Legal Assistance for Vietnamese Asylum Seekers (LAVAS) to provide legal aid to the boat people in first asylum camps, Coalition to Abolish Modern-day Slavery in Asia (CAMSA) to combat labor trafficking, the Vietnamese American National Chamber of Commerce (VietAmCham) to support small businesses, and the Renewing Democracy Fund to encourage Vietnamese-American participation in American politics. For the past 20 years he has mentored and trained many younger Vietnamese American leaders. Starting in 2010 he has rallied Vietnamese-American leaders across the country for a ten-year initiative to advance the Vietnamese American community in the government, business and social sectors. He has received numerous awards for his contributions to America, refugee populations, and human rights the world over. On International Human Rights Day of 2011, he represented BPSOS to accept the Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award presented by the President and the Speaker of Parliament of the Republic of China. In 2012 Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP) recognized him with its leadership award.

AMINA FIELDSis an Immigrants’ Rights Associate Managing Attorney at CAIR California, Greater Los Angeles Chapter. Amina and her family first came to America after she escaped from Vietnam as a refugee when she was 4 years old. She served ten years in the United States Air Force. She received her Juris Doctor at the University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law.

Amina is licensed to practice law in Washington State. When she lived in Spokane, Washington, she managed her own solo practice where she helped clients in immigration law, family law and nonprofit formation. In Spokane, she helped underrepresented communities, especially the immigrant and refugee people, by volunteering with various nonprofits and legal clinics.

MICHELLE LE, a refugee from Communist Vietnam, is a successful real estate investor and broker for more than 20 years. Michelle graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and Accounting.

Michelle is a Precinct Committee Officer (PCO) and also the founder of Wa4change.org, a grassroot non-profit organization. Its mission is to engage the citizens of the State of Washington to form a coalition in voting for change in the government of with the focus on recruiting and training PCOs. Michelle Le is an active and involved member of the Vietnamese community in Seattle, Washington. She was the Vice President of the Vietnamese American Community in Snohomish and King Counties from 2019-2022.

TUYET DINH, a resident of Louisville, Kentucky, is a professional with more than 20 years of experiences in the Information Technology field. She holds a B.S. and M.Eng. in Engineering Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA.

In 2012 she participated in the first annual Vietnam Advocacy Day organized by BPSOS. In the ensuing years she organized delegations to meet with members of Congress on Capitol Hill and at their local offices. In 2015 Tuyet formed a sponsoring group that “adopted” Vietnamese Women for Human Rights (VNWHR). Her sponsoring group has raised total $10,000 for this Vietnamese CSO. Tuyet also serves as Board member of VNWHR and its overseas representative. In 2016 Tuyet joined the Board of Directors of BPSOS and currently serves as its Chair. Since 2005 she has volunteered as bookkeeper at her local Catholic church and is an active member of the Louisville Vietnamese-American community. In her free time, Tuyet enjoys traveling with her husband, Vu Tan Pham with their four young children, Vinh, Vy, Van, and Viet.

Nga Dinh lives in San Jose, CA. Nga’s professional experience includes organization strategic planning, leading teams with a comprehensive understanding of technology development life cycle while specializing in portfolio/program/project management, international expansion, change management, operational strategic planning and business analysis.

Nga came to U.S. at the age of 11 and found her Christian calling through the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement while living in the Bataan Refugee Camp. Elected and served as VEYM in the U.S.A Vice President of Academics and Training in the National Executive Board from 2010 to 2014. As a mother of two, working professional, mentor for BPSOS NextGen, inspirational speaker and president of the youth leaders at her local chapter in diocese of San Jose – she is committed to youth leadership development and faith building. Her advocacy journey began in October 2018, when she attended Southeast Asia Freedom of Religious or Belief Conference in Manila, Philippines with her 12 years old daughter. Since then, she has been actively involved in advocating for religious freedom, freedom for prisoners of conscience, and human rights.

Shireen Hormozdi, received her Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Florida College of Law in 2003 and her undergraduate degree with honors from the George Washington University in 2000. While in law school, she was Editor-in-Chief of the Florida Journal of International Law, Managing Editor of the Journal of Law and Public Policy and a summer law clerk for the Department of Defense at the Pentagon. While in college, Ms. Hormozdi was a White House Intern for President Bill Clinton and a Legislative Intern for House Member and former-CIA Director Porter Goss.

Before opening her law firm, Shireen was a prosecutor in the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office in the Atlanta Judicial Circuit where she was assigned to their Special Victims Unit, focusing on crimes against women and children. She also clerked for a federal judge in the Northern District of Georgia. Ms. Hormozdi is licensed to practice law in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, New York and North Carolina. Shireen is the managing attorney of the Hormozdi Law Firm, LLC located in Norcross, Georgia and focuses her Georgia practice on personal injury matters.

Long Nguyen graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in psychology, and is currently pursuing an co-accounting degree from University of Maryland University College. He also works at AC Hotel in National Harbor, running meetings and events. Long has been a multi-term Advisor for the Mid-Atlantic Union of Vietnamese Student Associations (MAUVSA). He previously served as MAUVSA Treasurer, MAUVSA President, and MAUVSA Historian, as well as Treasurer for the Union of North American Vietnamese Student Associations (UNAVSA). He has also been involved with Ket Doan Association, the Vietnamese American Youth Leadership Conference (VAYLC), AALEAD, and the community Tet Trung Thu festival.

KIM MAI is a native Houstonian, who has a broad energy transactional practice at Haynes and Boone, LLP, focused on energy finance and acquisitions and divestitures work. After interning at BPSOS-Houston as a clerk, she joined the organization as a board of director member and is committed to furthering our goals.