Eleventh Annual Vietnamese-American Youth Excellence Program

This year, Vietnamese Culture and Science Association is proud to present the Eleventh Annual Youth Excellence Recognition program. In this event, we will also celebrate a great milestone: the 11th anniversary of this meaningful program. We will invite the past 140 honorees to come back and join us at this celebration. There will be a video presentation to feature ighlights of these programs in the past 11 years. We also would like to encourage the younger generations of Vietnamese-Americans to excel in education by recognizing the outstanding academic and leadership achievements of the Vietnamese-American high school students in the Houston and vicinity areas, who graduated as Valedictorian or Salutatorian of their respective schools. We will also include some cultural performances related to the Vietnamese culture during the Luncheon.

Keynote Speaker: Mina T. Nguyen
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Business Affairs and Public Liaison

Mina T. Nguyen was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary for Business Affairs and Public Liaison on February 7, 2007. In this position, Nguyen manages the Treasury Department’s outreach to the business, advocacy, and financial community. She advises Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. and the agency’s leadership on economic and international issues. Nguyen is responsible for soliciting information, analysis, and opinions from public and private organizations representing business and consumer interests, and communicating Treasury and the Bush administration views to these organizations.

Prior to this position, Nguyen served as Director of Government Affairs of the Republican National Committee, where she was responsible for coordinating legislative plans and messaging with the U.S. Congress and managing key activities with business and trade organizations.

In 2004, Nguyen was the National Business and the Northeast Regional Coalitions Director for the Bush-Cheney campaign. Nguyen developed and executed a grassroots strategy among business leaders and communicated the economic policies and message to executives and small businesses.

From 2001-2003, Nguyen served as Director of Public Liaison and Special Assistant to Secretary Elaine L. Chao at the U.S. Department of Labor, where she was responsible for advancing the Labor Department’s 21st Century Workforce agenda by working with federal agencies, business organizations, and community groups. From 1998-2001, Nguyen was a Management Consultant in Accenture’s Strategy practice, where she worked with Fortune 100 companies in the hi-tech and communication industries.

Nguyen received her B.S. in Business Administration from U.C. Berkeley, Walter A. Haas School of Business.