After she was raped in college, Amanda Nguyen realized just how flawed the country鈥檚 sexual assault laws were. But instead of falling victim to a broken system that placed much of the burden on the survivor, the then-Harvard student decided to change it.
In 2013, Nguyen founded the civil rights nonprofit and drafted a Sexual Assault Survivor Bill of Rights. Three years later, the bill passed unanimously in both chambers of Congress and was signed into law by President Barack Obama.
鈥淚t鈥檚 my deep belief that the people who have the solutions to our country鈥檚 most pressing problems are the people who live that problem every day,鈥� said Nguyen, 27. 鈥淎nd there鈥檚 a market gap between those people and the people who wield the pen to write these laws.鈥�
However, that won鈥檛 be the case for long if Nguyen has anything to do with it. To date, Rise has worked with activists across the country to pass 23 laws that affect some 40 million people. Recently, Nguyen, who is based in D.C., took a page out of Silicon Valley and launched , a civil rights accelerator that gives social entrepreneurs the resources and support they need to effect change.
鈥淛ust like in a tech accelerator where startup entrepreneurs are given resources to lower their barrier to entry and accelerate their startup 鈥� we do that, but for civil rights,鈥� said Nguyen, who is currently working with of the Parkland shooting to pass bipartisan gun laws.
鈥淲e are trying our best not only to demystify the path of passing a law, but to inform the culture around doing so.鈥�
The word 鈥渂ipartisan鈥� is key in Rise鈥檚 work, and applicants for Rise鈥檚 incubator program need to be able to work across the aisle, Nguyen said 鈥� 鈥淏ecause we鈥檙e not here for a cathartic performance. We鈥檙e here to write laws.鈥�
Nguyen鈥檚 work has not gone without recognition. She has made Forbes鈥� 鈥�30 under 30鈥� list and Foreign Policy鈥檚 list of leading global thinkers. California representatives Mimi Walters and Zoe Lofgren nominated Nguyen for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize (the Nobel Foundation there were 301 candidates for this year鈥檚 prize, but does not identify the nominees), and most recently, Nguyen was recognized with the Light of Freedom Award at the 18th annual on April 24 in D.C.
In addition to training others on the law-writing process, Nguyen said her goal now is to find a way to help others overcome activism fatigue and bring joy back into making change, 鈥渟o that people can show up to work, change the world, and feel good and great doing so.鈥�
She added, 鈥淭here鈥檚 never been a more vital moment for everyday people to understand that they hold the power.鈥�
