Civil Rights Activist1991–present

    Amanda Nguyen

    From Boats to Spaceships

    Born Amanda Ngoc Nguyen on 10 October 1991 in California to Vietnamese refugee parents, Amanda Nguyen founded Rise and drove the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act through Congress unopposed in 2016 — then, in April 2025, became the first woman of Vietnamese heritage in space aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard.

    • 17 min listen
    • Civil rights activist
    • Founder of Rise
    • Spaceflight participant
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    Amanda Nguyen’s full 17 min audio biography, From Boats to Spaceships, is available on Lyfestori for iOS. Listen to a free preview below.

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    A life in brief

    Amanda Nguyen: life and timeline.

    Her mother's family escaped Vietnam by boat and reached an island off Malaysia. Amanda Nguyen grew up in Corona, California, wanting to be an astronaut, and interned at NASA while studying at Harvard. Then, in 2013, she was sexually assaulted, and learned that Massachusetts could destroy her rape kit after six months. She founded Rise, drafted a survivors' bill of rights and knocked on congressional doors until it passed without a recorded vote against it. In April 2025 she flew to space on Blue Origin's NS-31.

    1. 1991

      Born in California

      Born 10 October to parents who fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975. She grows up in Corona and spends weekends in Orange County's Little Saigon.

    2. 2009

      Leaves for Harvard

      Graduates from Centennial High School in Corona. Her memoir later describes an abusive father and school as her way out.

    3. 2011

      NASA intern

      Interns at NASA, and again in 2013, while researching exoplanets at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

    4. 2013

      Assault and a six-month clock

      Graduates from Harvard. After being sexually assaulted in Massachusetts she has a forensic exam, then learns her rape kit can be destroyed after six months, far short of the statute of limitations.

    5. 2014

      Founds Rise

      In November she emails everyone she knows asking for help drafting a bill of rights for survivors. The volunteer group she builds around it becomes Rise, run alongside her job as deputy White House liaison at the State Department.

    6. 2016

      The law passes unopposed

      Senator Jeanne Shaheen introduces the bill in February. The House passes it 399–0 on 6 September, the Senate by voice vote on 28 September, and President Obama signs it on 7 October, three days before her twenty-fifth birthday.

    7. 2019

      Nobel nomination

      Representatives Mimi Walters and Zoe Lofgren nominate her for the Nobel Peace Prize. She also receives the Heinz Award for public policy and is named to TIME's 100 Next.

    8. 2021

      Astronaut training

      Becomes a scientist-astronaut candidate with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences, researching women's health in space. She also posts a viral video calling for media attention to anti-Asian violence.

    9. 2022

      TIME Woman of the Year

      Named one of TIME's inaugural Women of the Year, with her profile written by the author Chanel Miller.

    10. 2025

      Saving Five and spaceflight

      Publishes her memoir Saving Five in March. On 14 April she flies on Blue Origin's all-female NS-31 crew, the first woman of Vietnamese heritage to go to space.

    Major achievements

    Amanda Nguyen: major achievements.

    • 01

      Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act

      Signed in October 2016, it gives survivors in federal cases the right to have a rape kit preserved free of charge for the statute of limitations, to be told before it is destroyed, and not to pay for a forensic exam. She declined to have it named after her.

    • 02

      Rise

      Founded in 2014 as a volunteer group funded by small donations, Rise went on to push survivor-rights laws in dozens of states and now describes itself as a civil rights accelerator.

    • 03

      Nobel Peace Prize nomination

      In 2019, at twenty-seven, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by two members of Congress, Mimi Walters and Zoe Lofgren — the pair who had introduced her bill in the House.

    • 04

      First Vietnamese woman in space

      On 14 April 2025 she flew aboard New Shepard on NS-31, a suborbital flight with an all-female crew. She carried experiments including lotus seeds from the Vietnam National Space Center.

    • 05

      A bestselling memoir

      Saving Five, published in March 2025, debuted on The New York Times bestseller list and set out the abuse and trauma that shaped her activism.

    Turning points

    Amanda Nguyen: defining moments.

    • Childhood

      Navigating by the stars

      Her mother's family crossed the sea navigating by the stars, outrunning pirates and border guards before claiming asylum in Malaysia. Those stories gave Amanda a fixed ambition: space. It shaped her choice of astrophysics and her NASA internships.

    • 2013

      A rape kit with an expiry date

      After her assault she chose to delay reporting and preserve the evidence. She then found she had to track down her kit and ask repeatedly that it not be destroyed. Researching the rules state by state, she found no federal bill of rights for survivors at all.

    • 2014–2016

      Lobbying on lunch breaks

      With a full-time State Department job, she built Rise on nights and weekends and went office to office on Capitol Hill. Most lawmakers said no. A petition, a Funny or Die video and the bipartisan Walters–Lofgren pairing in the House got the bill through in an election year.

    • 2021

      Returning to the dream

      Training with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences took her back to the science she had set aside for advocacy. Four years later she reached space on Blue Origin's NS-31, alongside Aisha Bowe, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Lauren Sánchez and Kerianne Flynn.

    What you’ll take away

    Lessons from Amanda Nguyen’s life.

    1. 01

      Write the law you needed

      She had no law degree and no lobbyist. She emailed her contacts for help, had a draft within two months, and turned her own experience into rights for people she would never meet.

    2. 02

      Find the issue both sides can't refuse

      In one of the most divided election years in memory, she paired a Republican and a Democrat as House sponsors. The bill passed without a single recorded vote against it.

    3. 03

      A deferred dream is not a dead one

      She set aside astrophysics to fight for survivors. A decade after the assault that changed her course, she went to space anyway.

    FAQ

    Frequently asked questions about Amanda Nguyen.

    Who is Amanda Nguyen?

    An American civil rights activist and the founder of Rise. She drafted the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act, signed into law in 2016, and in April 2025 flew to space aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard.

    When and where was Amanda Nguyen born?

    On 10 October 1991 in California. Her parents were Vietnamese refugees, and she grew up in Corona, east of Los Angeles.

    Where did Amanda Nguyen go to college?

    Harvard University, graduating in 2013. She researched exoplanets at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and interned at NASA in 2011 and 2013.

    What law did Amanda Nguyen pass?

    The Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act. It passed the House 399–0 and the Senate by voice vote, and President Obama signed it on 7 October 2016, giving survivors in federal cases rights including free preservation of their rape kits.

    Is Amanda Nguyen a NASA astronaut?

    No. She interned at NASA as a student, but her 2025 flight was a commercial suborbital trip on Blue Origin's New Shepard. She trained as a scientist-astronaut candidate with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences, a private research organisation.

    Who did Amanda Nguyen go to space with?

    The all-female NS-31 crew: Aisha Bowe, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Lauren Sánchez and Kerianne Flynn. The flight launched from West Texas on 14 April 2025.

    Is Amanda Nguyen Vietnamese?

    She is Vietnamese American. She was born in California to parents who fled Vietnam as refugees, and she was the first woman of Vietnamese heritage to go to space.

    What is Rise, Amanda Nguyen's organisation?

    A nonprofit she founded in November 2014 to protect the civil rights of sexual assault survivors. It began entirely volunteer-run and has since helped pass survivor-rights laws in dozens of states.

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