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Mission Statement

Founded in 1986, the National Congress of Vietnamese Americans is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community advocacy organization working to advance the cause of Vietnamese Americans in a plural but united America – e pluribus unum – by participating actively and fully as civic minded citizens engaged in the areas of education, culture and civil liberties.

The National Congress of Vietnamese Americans / Nghi Hội Toàn Quốc Người Việt Tại Hoa Kỳ (NCVA) aims to:

• Promote active participation of Vietnamese and Asian Pacific Americans in both civic and national matters and in community engagements;
• Defend human and civil rights secured by law for Vietnamese and Asian Pacific Americans;
• Seek to eliminate prejudices, stereotypes and ignorance against Vietnamese and Asian Pacific Americans;
• Promote economic development and self sufficiency for Vietnamese and Asian Pacific Americans;
• Foster youth leadership;
• Promote the cultural heritage of Vietnamese and Asian Pacific Americans.

NCVA has grown to become the major deliberative forum of the Vietnamese American community, a federation of organizations and concerned individuals across the 50 states. It is estimated that over the years, some 200 Vietnamese American organizations have been at one point or another affiliated with NCVA. There are others who chose to stay outside of the organizational structure of NCVA, but who still cooperate with it on issues of common concern.

Regular, Open and Public Meetings

NCVA organizes every year a national convention, usually in late summer, alternating between the East and the West Coasts for purposes of balanced attendance. Besides, the Board of Directors meets once or twice a year to review the work of the Executive Board which meets monthly (2nd Saturday of the month) to assess recent developments in the community, both domestically and abroad, designing timely responses and policies. Members of the Boards are elected in a democratic manner with limited terms to ensure fresh motivation while at the same time maintain the organization’s continuity.

A Forum and a Network

There have been professional networking, religious networking, networking efforts for specific purposes, many of which predate NCVA by several years. In such a context, NCVA tries to become a broad-based national network with a rather comprehensive scope of action. It seeks to become an accepted forum for all Vietnamese Americans of every persuasion to come together and discuss all issues of concern to that community, which is more than one million strong.

NCVA does not claim to represent all the Vietnamese in the United States, but it is the closest to a confederation representing the widest spectrum of Vietnamese American opinion the country. Its opinion is being sought after by the media, including television, radio, and newspapers both in the U.S. and abroad (BBC, Radio Australia, RFI, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, Chicago Tribune, Mercury News and others). NCVA speakers appear on many forum, both national and international, in a wide range of issues going from education, social programs, civil rights, to international relations and economics, especially in regard to Vietnam.