PIVOT announces hiring of inaugural Executive Director to lead next phase of organization

Wednesday, June 1, 2022 - PIVOT announced today the hiring of Dr. Jennifer Kim-Anh Tran as PIVOT’s inaugural Executive Director, effective June 1, 2022. “PIVOT was established five years ago  to bring Vietnamese Americans together to respond to threats that marginalized communities were facing under the last Administration. At that time, we did not fully anticipate the overwhelming positive support we received from Vietnamese Americans across the nation and across generations, all of whom were eager to build a movement for social justice beyond any one administration,” said Dr. Tung Nguyen, Co-Founder and Board President of PIVOT. “On behalf of the PIVOT Board, I am excited to welcome Dr. Jennifer Kim-Anh Tran as our first Executive Director. This important step signals PIVOT’s strategic growth and expansion, and demonstrates our unwavering commitment to diversity, equity, cultural roots, and inter-generational strength-building within our Vietnamese American community throughout the United States.” 

Dr. Jennifer Kim-Anh Tran brings a wealth of experience in community organizing, asset-building, leadership development, strategic planning, and research. She is fluent in Vietnamese and Spanish, and has deep roots in the Vietnamese American community. She formerly served as the Executive Director of the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce, and is an Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at California State University, East Bay. In addition, she serves as a Board member on Oakland’s Parks and Recreation Foundation, Peralta Colleges Foundation, and has co-chaired Oakland’s New Leaders Council.

“As an Oakland native, I have learned so much about community-building as well as working and healing across racial and generational boundaries. I am excited to now expand my work across geographic boundaries, to connect with Vietnamese Americans and allies across our nation so we can leverage our collective strength for a just America,” said Dr. Tran. “The opportunity to make meaningful connections with so many people so we can unite towards our common cause of justice and equity was what drew me to this role.” 

The hiring of an Executive Director during a midterm election year is a critical move for PIVOT, building on its significant impacts on the 2020 general election and the Georgia run-off in 2021. With new leadership, PIVOT will accelerate its ongoing work in civic engagement, policy advocacy, and combating misinformation that is widely circulating in the Vietnamese American communities, while exploring other opportunities to further its mission. 

Founded in 2017, PIVOT - the Progressive Vietnamese American Organization - is a national organization that works to engage and empower Vietnamese Americans for a just and diverse American through civic engagement and leadership development and supporting policies and candidates that are aligned with our values.