Cindy Nguyen is a former RAY Clean Energy Fellow for RMI’s Global South program, where she worked to develop clean energy pathways, accelerated electricity access, and built resilience in these geographies. She focused on providing technical assistance for Belize’s and Jamaica’s nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and has assessed the potential for alternative, utility-led business models to build productive use in Nigeria.
The RAY Clean Energy Fellowship seeks to increase and facilitate conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy–related career pathways for emerging leaders of color. As a RAY Clean Energy Fellow at RMI, Cindy aimed to champion diverse and underrepresented voices in conservation work and center equity and justice within the clean energy sector.
Background
Prior to joining RMI, Cindy worked on a number of environmental and climate-justice issues with several nonprofits. Notable experiences include:
- supporting Indigenous environmental and restorative justice efforts in Navajo and Hopi communities (Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program),
- assessing inequitable access to urban green space (Natural Resources Defense Council),
- promoting access to green stormwater infrastructure in Vietnamese communities (Environmental Coalition of South Seattle),
- and supporting student-led climate advocacy and organizing in Maine.
In addition, Cindy spent time abroad in Sri Lanka and Vietnam, where she studied complex issues of global environmental governance, sustainable development, and climate change.
As a scholar, Cindy has extensively studied and approached environmental issues with an equity and racial-justice lens. At Colby, she completed an honors thesis assessing attitudes toward environmental-health concerns in Vietnamese nail salons. In Vietnam, she surveyed and engaged city planning officials and local citizens to assess the impact of climate-related flooding in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 7. Lastly, she conducted research on climate vulnerability and adaptation in Caribbean small island developing states and published an article in Caribbean Geography on varying climate risk profiles in the Lesser Antilles.
Education & Awards
B.A., Environmental Policy, Colby College
Authored Works