Ngan Hoang currently works in the accounting field. She was born and raised in Hanoi, Vietnam. She came to the United States at the age of seventeen to participate in a cultural exchange program in Tennessee. Thanks to the support of her parents, and her brother who was already living in America, she enrolled at Linfield University in McMinnville, Oregon where she discovered her passion for accounting. She previously lived in San Francisco, which she found to be a melting pot of cultures and diversity, but has relocated to Hillsboro where she currently resides with her husband and daughter.
Ngan begins her interview by talking about her journey to the United States and to Portland, the city she now claims as her favorite. She recounts memories from her childhood before coming to the United States. Ngan stresses how her parents taught her to value international perspectives and encouraged her and her brother to study abroad. She looks fondly back on her experience of living with a host family and two other exchange students upon arriving in the United States. Ngan is proud to exist at the intersection of Vietnamese and American culture and shares her hopes that new generations will continue values and traditions that she cherishes from both cultures. She discusses cultural differences and the celebrations she enjoys the most in Vietnam and in the United States and shares her hope to see more Vietnamese people assuming leadership positions within the community. In the last part of the interview, Ngan recalls her favorite Vietnamese celebration, Tết, and its special connection to family, friends, and food.