LIMITLESS LIMITLESS Amanda Nguyen

OUR CONVERSATION ON PASSION, PURPOSE AND PERSISTENCE

Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder That the clinging of the church bells blew far into the breeze Leavin’ only bells of lightning and its thunder Striking for the gentle, striking for the kind Striking for the guardians and protectors of the mind And the poet and the painter far behind his rightful time And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing —Bob Dylan, “The Chimes of Freedom,” 1965

WWHERE DO WE GET THE BELIEF that we can , in fact, do anything?

So often we look around and focus on the “no” that exists in the universe, the barriers that stand in our way. Every once in a while, you meet someone who courageously pursues her endeavors and believes that the opportunities ahead reach sky high. She is the one who not only champions herself, but also encourages others to recognize the limitlessness within themselves. These individuals are remarkable, but the willingness to take on journeys like theirs can be daunting. Is there a source from which springs untethered hope? Could we bottle the creative essence of possibility? Does it stem from our DNA or the environment in which we were raised, from faith or political rights, from the whole or the individual? I don’t have one size fits all answers to these complex questions, but I do believe that considering complex questions like these require a connection to others – to empathy – and that reflecting on questions like these is more important than ever.

That belief that we can do something – it is akin to freedom, the freedom to fail or fly, to try, to make our mark and to create. For those of us fortunate to shoulder that freedom, it might be something we take for granted, or it might be something we had to fight for, but the freedom to believe that anything is possible is critical in pursuing our dreams.

The chimes of freedom that Bob Dylan wrote and sang of might be heard everywhere if we focus our energies, actions and thoughts in ways that lift up instead of tearing down. Even so, the chimes of freedom may sound different to each of us, to some melodic, to some righteous, to others faint or, perhaps, even silent. Perspective changes, sometimes year to year, other times day to day or even moment to moment. What we thought was possible then might be a distant memory when we celebrate what is possible now. On the other hand, we live in a world where we understand the importance of the hope of possibility because we also understand the dejection and fear that exist without it.

Candidly, I grew up believing in that freedom, that possibility, and I have been fortunate that something or someone helped me stoke the embers and rekindle the flames any time they were fading. Still, when I have the opportunity to connect with someone like Amanda Nguyen, 2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Founder of Rise, I know that the fire that inspires her work is full of more passion and purpose than some of us encounter across years of our lives. When you learn more about her and individuals who refuse to let others carve their reality, I hope it all rings as clear for you as it did for me:

Lift up, Encourage, Mentor, Listen to, Advocate for, Appreciate, Learn from, Befriend these individuals that inspire us. Take what you experience and consider what a life lived from the perspective of limitless might look like for you.

And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, TIME magazine released its Women of the Year list, and it is no surprise to anyone who knows her that Amanda Nguyen (Iota Tau-Harvard) is on it. Along with eleven other deserving creatives, innovators, activists, engineers, athletes, writers, leaders and lawyers, Amanda was recognized at TIME ’s Women of the Year gala held on International Women’s Day in March.

In the last several years, Amanda has earned honors like this from across the globe. She was listed on Forbes 30 Under 30, twice; recognized by Foreign Policy as a Top 100 Leading Global Thinker; included as a Young Woman of the Year in Marie Claire ; chosen for a Gloria Award; selected as The Tempest ’s #1 Woman of Color Trailblazer; received the Heinz Award for public policy and was a 2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee. She penned her own civil rights into existence and unanimously passed the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights after facing challenges as she navigated the criminal justice system following her rape during her college career. That federal law was the 21st bill in modern United States history to pass unanimously on the record.

As the CEO and Founder of Rise, she has inspired and impacted fellow sexual assault survivors around the nation as she encourages others to advocate for change to protect rights in communities everywhere. She built the organization from the ground up and was confident it would become a reality. “I sent an email to everyone I knew, asking them to ‘walk with me.’ I knew that I could accept my own injustice or rewrite the law for the millions of survivors around the country. So, I rewrote it. Seven years and 56 laws later, we are still America’s most successful legislative reform movement,” said Amanda.

Rise has a theory of change that is built on the idea that hope is contagious. Launched in 2014, the organization has evolved into a model for anyone to “drive democracy, scale hope and create change.”

The Hopeanomics™ organizing curriculum provides members of the organization the guides to drive democracy and scale hope in ways that impact a variety of social issues and empower ordinary citizens. Rise Justice Labs is a social movement accelerator that includes guides for state-by-state legislative reform for a Survivors’ Bill of Rights, a Universal Survivors’ Bill of Rights and guidance around ZeroUSA Gun Violence Prevention. The work involved with Rise and the legislative impact earned her the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize nomination, and when she learned of the honor she said it felt like lightning had struck her. Of all the honors she has received, this one is her most cherished and she is forever grateful to the Nobel Committee.

She calls herself a Civil Rights Astronaut, and that’s just about the most creative personal branding out there. Why did she give herself that title? “Humans are a multitude. There is the trope when you first meet people. ‘What’s your major? What’s your job? What do you do?’ And that’s the first point of assessing and labeling people. This label encapsulates all the things I love. I love astronauts, space and am passionate about activism.”

Previously, Amanda was appointed by President Barack Obama to the United States Department of State as his Deputy White House Liaison. With a passion for all things related to aerospace, she also served at NASA as an intern for the Office of the Chief Technologist, the Office of Communications and the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. She was a Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysics Fellow and was active during college, serving as president of the Harvard College Free the Slaves group, serving as a summer analyst for Morgan Stanley, interning at the Office of Public Engagement with The White House and as an extern for the Harvard Law School Project on Women’s Rights and Disability.

And we are just scratching the surface.

When did this “Renaissance Woman” know she would live her life in limitless directions and embrace a boundless thirst for expansion?

“It was the moment I decided to go public about my rape,” Amanda recalled. “I struggled in working with the criminal justice system. I walked into the local rape crisis center. There were no empty seats. There were so many survivors. I struggled with the weight of the stigma and the guilt. In therapy shortly after the assault, I was asked, ‘Do you feel guilty for your own rape?’ And I rejected that shame.”

“I realized I could have gone to Harvard and have been valedictorian, and done anything, and there would still be those who had a perception about me because I have been raped…so, I shed what others think and do what I feel is right. There were those I knew and loved who told me, if I say publicly that I was raped, it’s going to destroy what I’ve worked for. So, I decided I would stand up for what I believe in and shed the expectations of anything else.”

Amanda as also taken her talents to the arts. Her directorial debut of Everything I Ever

Wanted To Tell My Daughter About Men won Best Feature at the 2022 Cannes Independent Film Festival. She is also the lead of the Emmynominated mini-documentary, Rise Above by Money Magazine.

“I love fashion. It is a utility. We wear clothes every day and we also use them to express ourselves. When I would attend Fashion Week, people would come up to me and ask [about my ensemble], ‘I love that. What are you wearing?’ It struck me because it is the same question I was asked after my rape. In fashion, we can express our agency. No one ever goes and asks what the rapist wore during the assault.”

Inspired to enact change, she hosted the

Rise Survivor Fashion Show at MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art at New York Fashion Week as a way to “examine the power of our bodies and change the conversation around victim shaming,” shared Amanda. “Rape survivors and celebrity allies wore fashion in collaboration with designers. Their outfits were selected to empower the model or survivor.” In exciting news, Amanda shared that the Rise Survivor Fashion Show will take to the runway again this year.

In addition, she helped install an art exhibition at the United Nations, where outfits that survivors wore during their assault are displayed. “There are 103 outfits on 103 mannequins, representing the 1.3 billion rape survivors worldwide. Some of the outfits are the real outfits individuals wore during their assaults, and some are representative of what they wore,” Amanda shared. “People who visit the interactive exhibition are encouraged to try to guess which outfits were really worn, and it becomes very clear as you go through that you cannot guess. When you see the exhibit, it’s just clothes and it challenges the idea that what we wear impacts the assault.”

Her family connection is very important to her. The daughter of Vietnamese refugees, Amanda has used her voice to address the importance of the anti-Asian hate movement that arose as Asians began experiencing increased violence in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic. Her 2021 video message about the movement went viral and ignited action by connecting with 11 million people overnight.

“My parents say they went into death to seek life, so, in everything I do, I am honoring their sacrifices. They taught me that freedom isn’t free. We have a responsibility to push ourselves toward a better future. We are the dreams of our ancestors, and so I live a life worth living, fighting for my dreams.”

Her latest adventure comes in the form of fulfilling a dream she has had since childhood — become an astronaut. While Amanda is not headed out on the next space shuttle to explore the cosmos, she did participate in the Astronaut-Scientist Candidate program at the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences. In her class, she was surrounded by oncologists, pilots, military test pilots and people from all backgrounds. “I felt such imposter syndrome,” said Amanda, who continued to share the experience was, “intense, rewarding and pushed me to discover things about myself that I didn’t know.”

In addition to classroom instruction, tests, which involved trigonometry and classical thermodynamic theory, and hands-on learning experiences that replicate some of the astronaut training that NASA’s astronauts face, Amanda and her cohort had the opportunity to head out into planes that subjected the passengers to G-forces. “My first thought was, ‘Just don’t vomit.’ To my good luck, the shorter you are, the better advantage you have with handling G-forces because the blood drains from your brain more slowly. I went into that jet thinking my goal was just not to be sick. I came off the jet feeling like I had ridden the best roller coaster ever,” she recalled. What’s more, she had fun and she passed the course.

From her time in the air to her time in the White House and everywhere in between, Amanda has gained insight about the power to enact change and she believes it resides within each of us.

“People might not understand the power we have to make our voices heard. Our voices are the most powerful tools. Through my experiences in working with the government and in activism, I have learned the power is actually with the people. People with titles, like ones that sit in the Oval Office or in other high offices, are public servants. It is our responsibility to make our voices heard in this experiment of a democracy.”

For this Alpha Phi, when she hears or sees our letters, she thinks of sisterhood, love and community. She chose Alpha Phi while at Harvard because of “the amazing people who are part of it.” Alpha Phi is a loyal sisterhood of women, courageously pursuing limitless excellence, and Amanda more than embodies that mission. Her courage and creativity are matched by a relentless can-do spirit.

When she considers new explorations and ventures, she asks herself whether the project will make a tangible difference and whether she will find enjoyment in the process. In a world where feeling support and encouragement can help us tackle some of those more-importantthan-ever reflections and questions, Amanda shared that all women need to knowthat, “The light is already within you.”

When we lift one another up, when we shed the expectations, when we move forward in any and all directions to pursue excellence, when we open ourselves to possibility and challenge ourselves to make an impact, well, then we, too, might understand what it is to live from the perspective of being limitless.

WHEN SOMETHING

Is Broken

, Lauren-Ann Graham (Gamma BetaUC Santa Barbara) helps fix it. It is a work ethic and an interest she learned from her father and grandfather, whom she would often help build and fix items around the house. That interest in building and understanding how things work inspired continued learning and hands-on practice that she continues to put to good use today. From an early age, LaurenAnn dreamed of going to space as an astronaut, and, in her current role as mobile launcher ground integration engineer for Logical Innovations, a NASA contractor, she is one step closer to realizing that dream.

“Once I entered high school, I joined the robotics club and was the only girl participating for all four years. I also began taking engineering classes,” Lauren-Ann reflected. “In these classes, I learned 3D modeling, laser engraving, how to utilize software and so much more. I distinctly remember one of our tasks was to research different engineering majors, which led me to aerospace. Once I discovered that aerospace career paths existed, I never looked back. It combined my two passions, space and engineering. It is the perfect fit for me.”

She earned her undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering in 2020 and is still at Florida Institute of Technology as she pursues her master’s degree in mechanical engineering while she works. Her education has allowed her to explore so much, and she has especially enjoyed learning how to design and build airplanes and rockets and manufacturing a moon lunar regolith mining robot.

Learning on the job as well, LaurenAnn’s first internship experience with Larsen Motorsports, a jet-engine dragster racing company, proved to have been a great jumping off point for her career interests. Her role with the company was to build, restore and inspect their J-85 General Electric jet engines that could, on average propel vehicles to 280 mph in under five seconds. She gained knowledge in welding, fabricating, machine shop working and more.

The owner of the company also led a nonprofit organization called Blazing Trails that partnered with NASA Hunch, which is a program designed to empower and inspire students through project-based learning in high school to they may have the opportunity to launch their careers through the design and fabrication of real-world valued products for NASA. This connection helped LaurenAnn land her first job with NASA as an educational host to promote the program. She created an educational video series called Rockets to Racecars through which she educated students about how the racing industry uses NASA technology.

When she started graduate school, she applied to be a NASA intern and she was accepted to their program in the fall of 2021, working as a research assistance in the microgravity simulation support facility. There, she conducted research on how cells would move in different levels of lower gravity.

“The very first day I drove onsite at Kennedy Space Center, tears filled my eyes because my dreams had come

Is the sky the limit? Not for Lauren-Ann and Penni. These alumnae show us how Alpha Phis are making an impact when they are in limitless pursuit of the passions that propel them.

by Gina Henke

true. It was one of the happiest days of my life and exactly what I needed to, once again, realize my true potential and goals,” said Lauren-Ann.

Her second internship at Kennedy Space Center had her supporting the exploration ground systems team that is responsible for making sure the Space Launch System (SLS) is processed and launched safely. “In that role, I was supporting NASA’s next moon mission, Artemis, knowing that one day it could possibly be my ticket to the moon! Quickly, I began making incredible connections and telling everyone of my dream. And after only 4 months into the internship, I was offered my full-time position as a ground integration engineer for the mobile launcher,” she shared.

No day is the same for Lauren-Ann, who performs a variety of different tasks in her current role. Her work combines systems engineering, requirements management and verification and validation of element systems and subsystems within the exploration ground systems program for NASA’s mobile launcher. She also supports the mission management team, which reviews mission status and risk assessments for missions. Newer in her position, she is deeply involved in training and education, as well as working collaboratively with her teammates.

It's that feeling of collaboration and teamwork that also attracted LaurenAnn to Alpha Phi. The number of male students in her engineering classes far outnumbered the number of females, and so she was struggling to make friends with women on campus. In the spring of 2017, a few friends from her Bible study group were also members of Alpha Phi and asked Lauren-Ann to consider coming through recruitment. She signed up immediately, and the rest is history.

Her mom, Janna Graham (Alpha Lambda) was also initiated into the chapter as an alumna, and Lauren-Ann