Councilmember, District 7, City of San Jose  

Born in Vietnam in 1975, San Jose Councilmember Madison Phuong Nguyen was only four years old when her parents, Nho and his wife Dang Nguyen, packed up the family and fled Vietnam by boat. The family was at sea for a week before being rescued by a Philippine freighter. The Nguyen family lived in a refugee camp in the Philippines until a Lutheran family in Scottsdale, Arizona, sponsored them to migrate to the United States.  While in Arizona, her father worked as a janitor to support his wife and eight children. The Nguyen later re-settled in Modesto, California. Their youngest daughter was born in Modesto. In Modesto, the Nguyen were one of four Vietnamese families laboring among Mexican farm workers in the agricultural fields of the Central Valley. As a teenager, Madison worked in the fields alongside her father and family. "Working in the fields, we were looked down on. We didn't speak much English," recalled Nguyen. "We worked really hard, and I didn't like the fact that we were looked down on. I didn't want to live my life like that. I decided at a young age that whatever I do in life, I wanted to change that." Madison learned early about government services, and bureaucracy, because her parents volunteered her to translate for newly arrived immigrants. When she turned 18, Madison became a U.S. citizen and maintained the family tradition of changing her first name, choosing the name "Madison", after Daryl Hanna’s character in the movie, Mermaid.	“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”      Gandhi   Madison’s Parents
Nho and Dang Nguyen encouraged their children to pursue higher education; eight went on to graduate from college. Madison went on to receive her Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of California, Santa Cruz; and her Masters Degree in Social Science from the University of Chicago. Madison returned to California in 2000 to pursue a Ph.D in Sociology at U.C. Santa Cruz. In 2001, Madison became more involved in politics while working as a Sociology instructor at De Anza College.  Inspired by MTV's "Rock the Vote" campaign, she and Vietnamese community members organized a voter drive in which over 5,000 Vietnamese Americans registered to vote for the first time.  Madison’s visibility within the community increased after she became a critic of the way the San Jose Police Department handled the 2003 accidental shooting by an officer of Bich Cau Thi Tran, a 25-year old Vietnamese American mother of two children. And as a co-founder of the nonprofit organization, Vietnamese-American Center, Madison’s résumé started to resemble one of someone looking towards the future. In 2005 when a vacancy opened up on the City Council after a council member resigned, Nguyen had the experience and credibility to make a successful run.
Success came early in Madison’s political career.  In September 2005, when she was thirty years old, Madison campaigned for the San Jose City Council in a special election to replace former council member Terry Gregory for District 7. Vietnamese Americans, who formed less than 10% of San Jose's population at the time, turned out in record numbers during the primary election in June to support Madison Nguyen and co-ethnic opponent Linda Nguyen, pushing them ahead of seven other candidates. Madison Nguyen won 44% of the primary vote, while Linda Nguyen, received 27%. In the end, Nguyen received 62% of the votes cast, beating out her opponent to become the first Vietnamese American to serve on the San Jose City Council. Madison currently serves as the City of San Jose’s representative on the Silicon Valley Rapid Transit Policy Advisory Board (BART) as well as Chairwoman of the Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support Committee; Vice-Chair of the Neighborhood Services and Education Committee; and serves as a liaison on the San Jose Beautiful Commission, Mobile Home Commission, Housing and Community Development Committee, Traffic Appeals Commission, Small Business Development Commission and the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Treatment Plant Advisory Commission. Married after her election to the City Council, Madison’s life is busy balancing her roles as a wife, a Councilmember and finding time for her interests that include reading, writing and photography.	"How can we have an equal voice if we remain a silent community?" she asks. So Nguyen ran for the governing board of the Franklin-McKinley School District in 2002 and won, making her the first Vietnamese American woman elected to public office in California and the first Vietnamese American elected to the San Jose City Council.