Born in Vietnam, Tony Nguyen is acutely aware of Vietnamese history and culture. He has spent his career helping the Vietnamese communities in San Francisco and beyond. He was born in Saigon and spent a year in a refugee camp in Indonesia before coming to the United States in 1980. Tony is a Vietnamese community activist who has worked for over twenty years with diverse communities and cultures as a social worker, outreach worker, case manager, consultant, interpreter, business analyst, and community development manager. He has been involved with Vietnamese media for many years. Tony has worked in Vietnamese radio as a news anchor and DJ. He has been and is currently Producer/Host of Vietnamese Journal, a television talk program where guests of non-profit agencies are able to publicize their activities, needs, and campaigns to Vietnamese communities. At API Wellness center he was MSM program manager doing HIV testing/counseling, outreach, and street fairs. As a case manager for Asian Community Against AIDS, his work included HIV prevention, outreach, counseling, street fairs, massage parlors, schools, etc. At Southeast Asian Community Center (SEACC), as a business analyst, he assisted Southeast Asian small businesses with consulting, business plans, and getting microloans. Also at SEACC, as development director, he has assisted the Southeast Asian community, who are mostly poor, monolingual, immigrants, and refugees. His work has included interpretation, consumer education, citizenship assistance, applications for financial and health benefits, etc. At Asian Health Services as Program Coordinator for California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, he provides planning and assistance for nail salon events. Also, he supports agency communications with other community-based organizations. He organizes advocacy for nail salons political and health issues. During the pandemic, in addition to encouraging the use of less toxic chemicals, he has coordinated the implementation of safety guidelines for COVID, assisted with COVID testing and vaccinations. He is the liaison for social media in multiple languages.
Informed: Living Well