As a Vietnamese American immigrant, Ava Nguyễn grew up in a blend of different worlds.

She was born Phương Thảo Thị Nguyễn in Saigon, Vietnam. After leaving her home country and settling in Southern California in 1993, she was exposed to three languages: Vietnamese at home, Spanish in her neighborhood, and English at school. This early exposure to different ways of describing the world sparked her passion for reading, writing, and learning. Growing up in a multicultural space often resulted in not feeling validated in her Vietnamese identity, which resulted in her changing her name to Ava when she gained citizenship years later. This sparked a need to self reflect, grow, and learn about identity. She sought to dive deeper into these passions when she attended Cal State Long Beach, double-majoring in journalism and communication studies for her undergraduate degrees and communication studies for her master’s. It was in her master’s program that she discovered intercultural communication as a perfect summation of the things she loved most about learning: understanding culture, hearing people’s stories, and finding the “in-betweenness” of cross-cultural relationships. Both her studies and her life experiences have led her to be deeply invested in conversations about the intersectional experiences of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous,  and People of Color) and how to achieve solidarity and justice in oppressive systems.

This love of learning translated into a love of teaching during her time at CSULB as a teaching associate. She pursued teaching at community colleges because of the impact they had on her life early on - her mother attended Fullerton Community College to learn English and major in child development. As a child, Ava would sometimes attend classes with her mother, drawing squiggles to mimic taking notes alongside other students. She is constantly inspired by her mother, who juggled three jobs while attending community college and raising two kids on her own.

Outside of her academic and professional life, Ava is passionate about engaging in mutual aid efforts to support marginalized communities in the greater Los Angeles area. In recent years, she has helped make 1,000+ hygiene kits for unhoused persons in L.A., put together holiday gifts for Project Kinship (an organization that provides support and training to people who have been impacted by incarceration, gangs, and violence), packed care bags for farmworkers in Coachella Valley, and co-founded a small business with her mother to make and distribute 1,000+ face masks to unhoused persons in 2020-2021. She continues to cook and deliver meals to her community by volunteering through Home-y Made Meals, an organization that seeks to close the gaps in food equity and access through community. She finds the greatest joy in doing this work by doing it with her mother, Hanh, and her husband, Kevin.

Ava resides in Long Beach with her family, including her infant son, Đạt­­­, and two dogs, Cali and Loki. She teaches courses in intercultural and interpersonal communication studies at Chaffey College, Fontana Campus and aspires to become an abolitionist educator.