PIVOT Fellow Spotlight - Angelina Tran
/Angelina (Thuy Hang) Tran is passionate about convening politics, law, and education to further human rights and sustainability. As a first generation Vietnamese American, Angelina joined PIVOT to amplify the concerns and hopes of her diverse community members through political engagement. Angelina is excited to learn various ways to empower, equip, and engage the civic capacity of Vietnamese-Americans, particularly in her home state of Georgia.
Until nine years old, Angelina grew up in a former war zone in Binh Dinh, Vietnam, where she was surrounded by remnants of the war -- from cemeteries of unnamed victims to active landmines that prey on unlucky rice farmers. Reflecting on the complex political identities within her own history, she majored in Political Science and conducted extensive research on the Vietnam War. The humbling privilege of listening to survivors’ narratives solidified her commitment to human rights and storytelling as truth to power. She taught English to immigrants and refugees for over five years before obtaining her Master’s in Education Policy. Angelina plans to cross-pollinate her life and educational experiences to assist marginalized communities in pockets around the globe.
Misc facts: Angelina is a Gates Millennium Scholarship recipient; she speaks Spanish fluently and completed her Fulbright Teaching Fellowship in Mexico. Despite her heart defect, she is a competitive long distance runner and was 2019 Miss Vietnam Georgia 1st Runner Up. She recently obtained the Davis for Peace fellowship to build a literacy center for her former village in Vietnam.
