WASHINGTON D.C. – The Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC) is proud to announce Nicole Hoang as the recipient of the 2026 Distinguished Public Service Scholarship. This year's award is given in honor of the late Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, the first Asian American to serve in two Cabinet positions at the Department of Commerce and Department of Transportation.

Ms. Hoang is a native of San Jose, California and a senior at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies with a self-designed concentration in Civil Rights. She is Vietnamese American from a historically redlined neighborhood in Northside San Jose, where overlapping Vietnamese and Mexican communities shaped her early understanding of structural inequality.

Her background led her to public service early. In high school, she authored and championed the San Jose Youth Bill of Rights, which the City of San Jose later adopted in 2021. At Penn, Nicole has excelled in nationally competitive research fellowships, including the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, Point Foundation grant recipient, and Penn’s Asian American Studies Fellowship. Her academic work centers on civil rights with a special focus on Asian and Asian American history.

Nicole’s commitment to marginalized communities extends beyond research. She has worked in federal offices including the late Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), where she worked on the Violence Against Women Act and supported environmental and transportation policy portfolios, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), deepening her resolve to pursue a public-service career grounded in structural justice. Nicole currently serves as a Communications Associate at the Philadelphia Office of Immigrant Affairs, where she continues to support the immigrant communities that shaped her upbringing.

Nicole will attend the University of California Berkeley School of Law in fall 2026 and will pursue appellate litigation while building a legal career founded on public service.

Nicole will receive a $5,000 award during the annual FAPAC Awards Gala on May 30, 2026 at the Falls Church Marriott Fairview Park in Falls Church, VA. FAPAC members, friends, and supporters are cordially invited to celebrate Nicole’s achievements and celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month.

Since 2013, the FAPAC Distinguished Public Service Scholarship Endowment Fund, Inc. has awarded an annual scholarship to exceptional students who are interested in public service, exhibit academic excellence, and advance AANHPI communities. A distinguished panel of judges is tasked with reviewing and ranking candidates based on five criteria. Thank you to the 2026 applicants for making this year’s scholarship an incredibly competitive contest. We admire your commitment to academic and AANHPI success and wish you the best in your future endeavors.

FAPAC is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that provides leadership development and networking opportunities for employees of the Federal and District of Columbia governments and members of the U.S. military, with an emphasis on the Asian American, Native Hawai’ian, and Pacific Islander community.