Our Team
Co-Founder/Co-Executive Director
Jessica Tran graduated from Santa Clara University in 2013 with a Bachelor degree in Psychology and Minor in Communications. She is now working at Apple Inc. in World Wide Developer Relations.
In 2010, she was crowned Miss Vietnam of Northern California. Jessica was a former teacher at
Trung Tam Viet Ngu Van Lang and volunteers for various activities within the Vietnamese American community. She devotes most of her time seeking for Golden Hearts who can lend a hand in "lighting dreams one child at a time", because she believes the children are our future.
Co-Founder/Co-Executive director/Co-Treasurer
Kieu Nguyen emigrated from Vietnam during the early 80’s and carried various jobs to make ends meet for her family. As a young adult, it was always her dream to give back to the less fortunate people in her homeland. Kieu Xuan continued holding on to these dreams and instilled it in all her children through the years. This dream became a reality in 2010 when Golden Hearts was born. Golden Hearts was kick started by joint efforts with her middle child Jessica, who now continues to carry on Kieu Xuan’s passion.
Volunteer/Event Coordinator
Jonathan Tran graduated from University of California, Davis in 2020 with a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences. Currently, he is working as a Certified Nursing Assistant and Scribe to gain experience in the healthcare field before he applies for medical school. Like Jessica, Jonathan was also a former teacher at Trung Tam Viet Ngu Van Lang. Jonathan’s dream is to follow his mother’s and sister’s footsteps and give back to the less fortunate families in Vietnam. Jonathan aspires to assist underserved communities and to break healthcare barriers and healthcare stigmas as a physician one day.
Scholarship Surveyor/Saigon Representative
Phuong Ha Nguyen has been a member of Golden Hearts since the early founding days in 2011. Currently she resides and works in Sai Gon. Typically after Golden Hearts receives scholarship applications from the students, Phuong Ha would come to the students’ houses to survey the family situation, interview the students, verify the facts in the application, and report her findings back to Golden Hearts Headquarter so that a decision can be made regarding the application. To Phuong Ha, every visit is a meaningful and rewarding experience because she gets to meet and get to know the students — the bright stars of tomorrow — as well as other Golden Heart volunteers in all regions of the country. Every meeting with an applicant is like a valuable and unexpected present to Phuong Ha.