Van, CEO and a co-founder of the Will to Live Center, was born with spinal muscular atrophy, but she never let it stop her from chasing her dreams. Based on her brother's suggestion "to train disabled people, show them how to use technology and English to connect with the world," she founded the center in 2003.

Van Thi Nguyen and her husband.

She told the BBC: "We have had more than 1,000 graduates, 80 to 90 percent of them are now employed. Some of them are their family’s breadwinners."

Van, 33, wants the environment in Vietnam to enable people with talent and devotion to develop, "instead of people feeling like they need to move abroad to use their skills."

Seeking to create an equal working environment for everyone, she also runs social enterprise Imagator, which employs 80 people, half of them disabled.

The other Vietnamese in the list, Trang, is a wildlife conservationist. Growing up in Vietnam and seeing from a young age monkeys chained up for sale on the streets and bears held to extract bile, she travels to preservation sites, safaris and national parks to save animals.

Trang, 29, is also the founder of WildAct, that monitors the illegal wildlife trade and organizes education programs for youth.

Trang at Burger Zoo, Netherlands.

"For the future of nature conservation, it is important that women's voices are heard and their actions are recognized," the BBC quoted Trang as saying.

Last year she won the nature conservation prize, the Future For Nature Award, and was nominated for the Women of the Future Awards Southeast Asia for her contribution in global wildlife conservation.

The BBC’s annual list, which this year poses the question what the future would look like if it were driven by women, also includes U.S. congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mexican Oscar nominee Yalitza Aparicio, and Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg.

Vietnam’s U19 women players train for AFC championship

Vietnam's head coach Ijiri Akira has called up 26 players for a training camp in Hanoi in preparation for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U19 Women's Championship later this month in Thailand.

Vietnam, Australia cooperate in empowering women in foreign service

Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade co-organised a forum in Hanoi on October 3 to promote women’s empowerment in the foreign service in the digital age.

7 provinces attend Women’s creative startup festival in Bac Giang

(BGO) – The Women’s Union in Bac Giang province on October 1 coordinated with the Women’s Union in the provinces in the Northern midland and mountainous emulative cluster to hold the Women’s Creative Startup Festival and trade promotion conference in 2019.

Vietjet, NutiFood CEOs make list of Asia’s Power Businesswomen

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, CEO of the Vietnamese budget carrier Vietjet Air, and Tran Thi Le, CEO of NutiFood, were named on Forbes Asia’s Power Businesswomen list this year, which highlights 25 women with significant roles in shaping Asia’s business landscape in the next few decades.

Vietnam leads ASEAN in women's employment

Vietnam is leading ASEAN in terms of the percentage of working women in total employment, according to a report by the ADB and OECD.

Source: VnExpress