Leslie V. Nguyen-Okwu is an award-winning journalist and narrative strategist with a ten-year track record serving in the highest levels of communications and working with major media outlets and industry giants. Her portfolio includes bylines in The New York Times, BBC, National Geographic, The Economist, Harper's Bazaar, and creative collaborations with tech titans like Google (via EnVeritas Group), Airbnb, and HTC. With extensive experience writing for esteemed publications and advising influential policymakers and business leaders, Leslie‘s insightful commentary has made her a sought-after expert, making notable appearances on print, radio, and television.
As the proud daughter of refugees, Leslie explores the liminal spaces between borders and belonging. She holds a Bachelor's in International Relations from Stanford University and her career as a foreign correspondent covering displacement, statelessness, and contested homelands informs her storytelling and narrative-based advocacy. These experiences have earned her grants, fellowships, and residencies from Harvard University, American Mandarin Society, Asian American Journalist Association, Tin House, Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation, Disquiet International Literary Program, and Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. Most recently, she served as a writer-in-residence at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Canada.
Leslie is committed to amplifying immigrant, refugee, and diaspora voices. She is the author of the forthcoming book American Hyphen — an intimate journey across the rocky terrain of racism, as a first-generation Vietnamese Nigerian American navigates the fissures and faultlines between Black America and Asian America. American Hyphen comes at a crossroads as America grapples with racial injustice, anti-Black brutality, and anti-Asian attacks. Through untangling the Gordian knot of Asian assimilation and Black belonging, this memoir answers Toni Morrison’s call to challenge the “master narrative” that portrays communities of color in conflict. Black and Asian communities are commonly pitted against each other. But there’s a long, forgotten history of solidarity too.
In a defining chapter of her life, she battled a rare, aggressive form of cancer and nearly died. While attending graduate school at Harvard University, she exhibited remarkable resilience by continuing classes while receiving chemotherapy and attending lectures with her portable infusion pump. Today, Leslie is in full remission and plans to finish her memoir. Like many refugees, she believes in the transformative power of second chances at life and finding narrative coherence in adversity.
Previously, she worked as a technology reporter in Silicon Valley and a foreign correspondent in Asia. Special assignments included getting a knife massage in Taiwan, interviewing persecuted pop stars in Vietnam, and going under the needle for a traditional magic tattoo in Cambodia. Fluent in Mandarin, Leslie is a member of the Black China Caucus and the National Association for Black Engagement with Asia. In her spare time, Leslie finds joy in performing improv and stand-up comedy, tackling full marathons and Spartan races, embarking on multi-day mountain treks, and coaching workouts as a volunteer fitness instructor.
She has perfected the art of writing in the third person.
Social: Twitter | LinkedIn
As the proud daughter of refugees, Leslie explores the liminal spaces between borders and belonging. She holds a Bachelor's in International Relations from Stanford University and her career as a foreign correspondent covering displacement, statelessness, and contested homelands informs her storytelling and narrative-based advocacy. These experiences have earned her grants, fellowships, and residencies from Harvard University, American Mandarin Society, Asian American Journalist Association, Tin House, Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation, Disquiet International Literary Program, and Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. Most recently, she served as a writer-in-residence at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Canada.
Leslie is committed to amplifying immigrant, refugee, and diaspora voices. She is the author of the forthcoming book American Hyphen — an intimate journey across the rocky terrain of racism, as a first-generation Vietnamese Nigerian American navigates the fissures and faultlines between Black America and Asian America. American Hyphen comes at a crossroads as America grapples with racial injustice, anti-Black brutality, and anti-Asian attacks. Through untangling the Gordian knot of Asian assimilation and Black belonging, this memoir answers Toni Morrison’s call to challenge the “master narrative” that portrays communities of color in conflict. Black and Asian communities are commonly pitted against each other. But there’s a long, forgotten history of solidarity too.
In a defining chapter of her life, she battled a rare, aggressive form of cancer and nearly died. While attending graduate school at Harvard University, she exhibited remarkable resilience by continuing classes while receiving chemotherapy and attending lectures with her portable infusion pump. Today, Leslie is in full remission and plans to finish her memoir. Like many refugees, she believes in the transformative power of second chances at life and finding narrative coherence in adversity.
Previously, she worked as a technology reporter in Silicon Valley and a foreign correspondent in Asia. Special assignments included getting a knife massage in Taiwan, interviewing persecuted pop stars in Vietnam, and going under the needle for a traditional magic tattoo in Cambodia. Fluent in Mandarin, Leslie is a member of the Black China Caucus and the National Association for Black Engagement with Asia. In her spare time, Leslie finds joy in performing improv and stand-up comedy, tackling full marathons and Spartan races, embarking on multi-day mountain treks, and coaching workouts as a volunteer fitness instructor.
She has perfected the art of writing in the third person.
Social: Twitter | LinkedIn