Our team

Wendy Nguyen

Wendy is the co-founder of Rise Forward Foundation and Asian Americans Rise. As a former investor and a consultant at Bain & Company, she has spent 20+ years building growth and marketing strategies that have driven over $3B in exits. She brings 10 years of political campaign experience to Rise Forward Foundation, having managed PACs and (c)(4) programs across the 2016, 2020, and 2022 cycles. In 2024, she founded Asian Americans Rise and led the largest AAPI voter registration drive in U.S. history — the program Rise Forward Foundation is now scaling to all communities of color.

andrea chen

Andrea is the co-founder and former CEO of Propeller, a nonprofit social innovation incubator based in New Orleans. Over 15+ years leading Propeller, she helped accelerate nearly 300 ventures, mobilized more than $290M in financing for community-driven enterprises, and generated hundreds of local jobs across education, food, health, and economic equity. She brings deep expertise in coalition-building, nonprofit operations, and growing organizations from the ground up — and a long track record of investing in the leaders and communities closest to the work.