Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabrielle (Gabby) Nguyen.
Hi Gabrielle (Gabby), thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a 1st generation Vietnamese American woman born and raised in Houston, TX. My parents were Vietnamese refugees from the war, and fleed Vietnam very young — my mom was 11 and my dad was 15.
They ultimately landed in Houston, TX where I was raised. My parents and family members started working at gas stations and salons and all ultimately became small business owners, owning little shops — salons, tailoring shops, and home design shops (granite countertops, etc).
Growing up I was always curious about the arts — did theater, acting classes, and found a lot of joy in it.
Ultimately I pursued a more “traditional” career route, went to UC Berkeley for undergrad and landed a corporate job at Meta (formerly Facebook) and Instagram in marketing.
Throughout my journey, I remained curious about the arts and pop culture and how being Asian American and Vietnamese American impacted mine and my community’s experiences— writing for my college newspaper, taking film and media courses that explored those themes when I could.
I started to get more involved in this world when I began leading inclusion initiatives at my corporate job — creating plans to hire more diverse candidates and supporting underserved communities and communities of color at work.
I ultimately entered a role where I was working with multicultural partners — like small business owners, nonprofits, creators who were using meta’s products to post about their own experiences.
During my time in this space, COVID-19 and the ride of Asian hate crimes happened. I worked with and connected with really incredible nonprofits combating this but also noticed there were very few nonprofits and orgs specifically dedicated Asian women and their needs. My friend Connie, an art director by trade, decided to start our own little collective— AZN AMERICANA— and just start hosting events for Asian women & femmes, primarily in creative spaces.
The events and social media community started to get more traction and we noticed it was a huge need! Through that we were connected with some incredible Asian femme creatives like Elizabeth Ai, and even impact produced her feature film NEW WAVE.
It’s been 2 years since we started AZN AMERICANA and we have over 10,000 community members around the US (on and offline), we’ve hosted events at SXSW and Tribeca Film Festival, and we have a mentorship program that pairs early career stage Asian women & femmes with senior leader Asian women & femmes! We’re now officially a nonprofit and our mission is to empower Asian women & femmes to grow and succeed on their own terms.
I’m currently based in Brooklyn NY, but have a deep love for Texas since it’s where I’m from. Austin in particular is a great place where we’ve built community through our local Community Leads — Evelyn Rude and Anh Pham and partnering with awesome orgs and partners like Austin Asian Film Fest, Lian Soy (artist), kinship milk tea, and Little Twist Bakery! We had the honor of hosting multiple SXSW events this year too!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
For myself? Yes and no. I feel like I have already lived 30 different lives and I’m only 31. I lived in TX, Bay Area, and now New York. Switching from corporate to nonprofit and the “freelance” world by being an Impact Producer myself (for films like NEW WAVE, and more upcoming film projects!) has been a whirlwind. Adjusting to not having a steady paycheck has definitely not been easy, but I feel more proud of myself than I ever have. I also think it’s made me realize that I feel like life’s only just begun! And I’m 31!
For AZN AMERICANA, also Yes and no.
Smooth in the way that we’ve seen so many wonderful people join our community by attending events— so far we’ve hosted most in NYC but also Austin, Houston and LA; applying to our mentorship program or being a mentor, or just connecting with us via Instagram. We’ve also had the privilege of meeting so many incredible Asian women & femmes taking creative risks— whether that’s pursing creative careers or finding creative outlets in their daily lives, and inspiring others to do so too.
No because running a community org and a nonprofit is hard!! I’d definitely say we are still scrappy, and fundraising cant be a challenge for sure.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m Gabby and I am an Impact Producer. To date, I am most proud of my work Impact Producing NEW WAVE, directed by Elizabeth Ai.
An Impact Producer is someone who works closely with an impact-driven filmmaker and their team on a film to build relationships with advocates and organizations, consult from an Impact or nonprofit angle, and broaden distribution through unique channels (community screenings, other events, impact speaker panels, and more).
NEW WAVE is a documentary film that premiered at Tribeca 2024 and tells the story of Vietnamese refugees in the US who came of age to the rebellious sounds of New Wave music. Partnering with Elizabeth and her team was such a gift— we helped plan community events and screenings, launch an impact campaign and celebration at Tribeca 2024. We also loved being able to support by bringing our own community through AZN AMERICANA (nonprofit) together around the film in LA, NY, Texas and more.
Through AZN AMERICANA, we’ve also been able to support other filmmakers— primarily Asian women & femmes— who are telling incredible stories not only about themselves but about the world around them.
Personally, what I think sets me (and the org) apart is my experience with an actual business background – I have experience with start ups, huge companies (Meta) and knowing how important it is to establish relationships and working with all types of people from different industries — film, media, tech, entertainment, nonprofit. Using those skill sets to make an impact and support Asian women & femme creatives and filmmakers who need the support has been an immense privilege and made my job a lot easier!
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I also teach a yoga sculpt class 3x a week!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Aznamericana.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/aznamericana
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellenguyen1
