Madison Nguyen on Escaping Vietnam to Become a Leader in San Jose

Nguyen served on the San Jose City Council for 10 years and is now running for District 2 supervisor in Santa Clara County.

Madison Nguyen first ran for public office in 2000, when she became a candidate for a position on a San Jose school board. Courtesy of Madison Nguyen

Madison Nguyen became the first Vietnamese American woman in California to serve on an elected school board and on San Jose’s City Council in 2005. She tells Bay Area Innovators host Steve Ispas her background and motivation for becoming a public official.

Madison Nguyen was only 4 years old when she and her family left their country for the United States after the Vietnam War ended in 1975. Her parents wanted to escape the communist country so their family could have better education and economic opportunity.