Worcester Business Journal

24 Worcester Business Journal | March 7, 2022 | wbjournal.com F O C U S H A L L O F F A M E Sawyer is driven by love WBJ Hall of Fame Anh Vu Sawyer Executive director Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts Headquarters: Worcester Her birthplace: Saigon Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Iconic figure: "The world saw me climbing into the American Embassy in Saigon on April 30, 1975, a few hours before the fall of Saigon. I didn't know it either, until almost 40 years later when I was asked to screen Rory Kennedy's 'Last Days In Vietnam' documentary in 2014." A nh Vu Sawyer can list the top five best decisions she's made in her 68 years of life. ey include, in no particular order, climbing over the gate at the U.S. embassy in Saigon in 1975, from which her family was evacuated just hours aer the city fell; meeting her husband and having their children; helping to start People Express Airlines in the 1980s; and matriculating at Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the age of 65, on a dare. And finally, the fih decision: accepting the position of executive director of the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts. She recalls she was in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam, working with trafficked Hmong women when a headhunter she knew called her and asked her if she'd be interested in the position. It was 2012. She decided to give it a go. "I came down the mountain and had my final interview in Worcester," Sawyer said. It was rainy and gray that day, back in the U.S., she recalls. She stopped at the Worcester Public Library and then the Worcester Art Museum. She remembers being impressed by the art collection as she considered whether the city was the right place for her. "I imagined I could give it a try," Sawyer said, although she wasn't sure, at the time, how long she'd manage. She was concerned because of differences between herself and the majority of the Vietnamese population in Central Massachusetts: She hailed from the north, while those around Worcester largely came from the south. Her fears ended up being unwarranted, though, which she sees as a sign of healing and diplomacy. "is is a good way to show the Vietnamese move forward," Sawyer said. For nearly a decade since, she's thrown herself into the Central Massachusetts community, as she is generally wont to do when presented with a challenge. Under Sawyer, SEACMA maintains a vast program catalog aimed at supporting the area's Southeast Asian population. Initiatives include direct services and referral programs, which, according to SEACMA, support 10,000 clientele annually; education and youth programming; and a small business ownership and entrepreneurship incubator. e organization expands as needed, BY MONICA BENEVIDES WBJ Senior Staff Writer PHOTO/MATT WRIGHT

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