Nguyễn Thị Vân Explained

Nguyễn Thị Vân (pronounced as /vi/, born 1985/86), sometimes referred to as Van Thi Nguyen, is a Vietnamese social entrepreneur and disability rights activist.^[1]

Early life

Born in a village from Hanoi,^[2] Vân has spinal muscular atrophy, as did her brother Cong Hung Nguyen. She worried about their future, seeing the many disabled beggars in Vietnam, and became depressed, withdrawing from school and attempting suicide.

Career

Vân and Hung founded the Will to Live Center in 2003, which provides training for disabled people. Hung died, age 31, and Vân continued to run it alone.^[2]

Vân also runs Imagtor, a social enterprise which offers photo, video and IT solutions, employing many disabled Vietnamese.^{[3] [4] [5]}

In 2019, she was listed among the BBC's 100 Women, a list of 100 inspiring and influential women. She was also listed by Forbes Vietnam on a list of influential Vietnamese women in 2019.^{[6] [7] [8]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: Bac Giang Online. BaoBacGiang.
2. Web site: Van Thi Nguyen. Rina G. Patel.
3. Web site: Two inspirational Vietnamese women honoured by BBC. ~ Phạm Thu. Hương. October 16, 2019.
4. Web site: MonTECH. www.facebook.com.
5. Web site: BBC 100 Women 2019: quem está na lista?. noticias.uol.com.br.
6. Web site: BBC includes 7 inspirational Southeast Asians in its 100 Women of 2019 list. October 18, 2019. Mashable SEA.
7. Web site: 7 Southeast Asians on BBC's 100 Women of 2019 List | Seasia.co. Good News from Southeast Asia. 28 October 2019 .
8. Web site: Two Vietnamese among world's 100 most influential women. Tram. Bich. vietnam-expat.com. 10 January 2023 .