Tammy Truong

Tammy Truong is a born and raised San Diegan who will be graduating this Spring with a Bachelors of Arts in public policy from the University of California, Riverside. As a daughter of Vietnamese refugees escaping war-torn Vietnam and a first-generation student attending college, the values of hard work, determination, and higher education was instilled in her. She would often hear stories of her parents going through the challenges of assimilating in the U.S; and working multiple low-income jobs in order to give her and her sister the best chances they could. She grew to learn and to recognize that the AAPI community is underserved in many aspects, negatively influenced by the model minority myth, and this inspired her to be involved in progressive social justice work at her university.
For four years, she served as a dedicated member of Sigma Omicron Pi, Student Chapters Inc, where she was able to take philanthropic action and provide educational opportunities to youth in Asia. In addition, Tammy is also a Research Assistant for the Transnational Labor Alliance Database led by Professor Marissa Brookes, where she was exposed to the labor movement and discovered the injustices of workers and unions globally. Inspired to fight for workers’ rights and racial justice, she later worked for the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance in Washington D.C. In D.C., she was introduced to activism and resistance work, where and was able to organize a Race Talks forum that included various organizations to change the behavior and culture of race and racism in the community and in the workplace. Through her various experiences, Tammy is determined to spark change in the community and learn the methods of organizing through the Students for Economic Justice Fellowship Program to help underprivileged communities overcome their challenges. She strongly believes that progressive change starts locally. Therefore, she plans to stay and continue social work in her hometown of sunny San Diego and pursue a master’s degree in public policy or public administration.