Thoai Nguyen is a first generation Vietnamese refugee whose family immigrated to the United States in 1975, in the aftermath of the war in Vietnam. Thoai is currently the Executive Director of the Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition, Inc. (SEAMAAC). Thoai is a long time community organizer who has worked for peace and social justice in many communities throughout Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and North America.

Thoai's previous administrative and community organizing experiences include Program Director at the Southeast Philadelphia Collaborative, a project of Lutheran Children Family Service (Philadelphia), American Friends Service Committee's (AFSC) Roma Youth Program Director (Bosnia-Herzegovina & Hungary), AFSC's National Youth Program Director/Youth Action Program (50 programs throughout the U.S.), AFSC's National Director, Asia Pacific Program (Oakland, CA, and Hawai'i), and Director of Program Development for the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence (CAAAV - New York City). Thoai is the founder of the Brown Collective and was a key organizer in the protests against the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia in 2000, working to ensure that the voices from communities of color were heard in the civil disobedience movement.