About

I am a Seattle-based linguist, researcher, and poet who identifies as queer, non-binary, and Vietnamese American. My experiences deeply shape how I approach both technology and storytelling. My work is grounded in questions of voice, representation, power, and belonging, whether I’m auditing AI systems for fairness, designing human-centered product experiences, or exploring identity and community through poetry. Across disciplines, I’m motivated by the same goal: building and imagining systems that respect the full complexity of human lives.

I received my Ph.D. in Linguistics from Georgetown University with a concentration in Sociolinguistics. I have formal training in qualitative ethnographic research, sociolinguistic interviewing, analyzing multilingual data, and discourse analysis. Previously, I’ve worked on projects around queer coming out narratives, the construction of Asian American political identities online, and language and identity in the Vietnamese diaspora.

Day to day, I work at the intersection of responsible AI, fairness, and product experience—building practical frameworks to audit and improve how generative systems represent people, make assumptions, and behave in real-world contexts. Alongside rigorous bias evaluation and red-teaming, I design human-centered CX and solve complex interaction challenges for voice assistants, translating AI ethics into concrete metrics and intuitive experiences that teams can ship with confidence.

I am passionate about engaging in dialogue within and between marginalized communities. At the end of the day, I believe that respecting the diversity of human language means respecting the speakers of a language.