On April 19, 1975, five-year-old Xuan “Cyndi” Nguyen’s parents took her and her siblings – her six-year-old brother and two sisters, ages five and seven, from their home in Phuoc Tinh, a rural area in Vietnam to escape from the Communist. Accompanying them were their grandparents and aunt. Forty-six years later, Mrs. Nguyen who serves on the New Orleans City Council, remembers the journey. Everything her family-owned, they wore.

They boarded a boat with hundreds of other families in search of the same goal that her parents wanted for their children – freedom and opportunity. She remembers the anxiety on the faces of the adults; confused children who did not know what was happening. The journey to the United States was sometimes grueling. It was a journey that formed her work ethic. It is a foundation for her optimism and can do attitude. Life lessons growing up are the source of her inspiration and passion for community.

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Councilwoman Cyndi Nguyen is the first Vietnamese/Asian member of the New Orleans City Council. After coming to America, her family settled in New Orleans. A fan of the singer Cyndi Lauper, she chose Cyndi as her American name. During her youth she would frequently get into trouble, but her parents’ determination for their daughter to have a Catholic education, led to their decision to send her to a convent out of state. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social work and a master’s degree in organizational management.