Lea Tran is an ethnic Chinese, former “Boat People” refugee from Vietnam. A TEDx speaker and keynote speaker, she published her first memoir “I Did Not Miss the Boat- Memoir of a Vietnam Hoa Refugee” in the midst of the pandemic lockdown in 2020.

The book is about the coming of age story of an adolescent girl who struggled to help her family’s assimilation into a new country while searching for her own identity. From surviving the vast South China Seas, pirate raids, and uninhabited Indonesian islands to surviving high school and family life, Lea Tran did not experience a typical American upbringing.

Lea Tran graduated Villanova University with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, a female scientist turned successful entrepreneur and business owner in the Greater Philadelphia Region, Now Lea brings her story to make an impact on stages to inspire her audience not to settle during the crisis but look for ways to transform adversity into opportunities.