Astronaut and Activist Amanda Nguyen Hosts First All-women Astronaut Gathering at the U.N.

On Tuesday evening, astronaut and activist Amanda Nguyen invited and hosted the first gathering of all-women astronauts in history at the United Nations to honor the 10th Annual International Day of Women in STE(A)M. The gathering featured women astronauts past, present and future.

The event was hosted by Rise, a civil rights organization founded by Nguyen, the Secretary-General’s Spotlight Initiative and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Poland. Speakers included E.l.f. Beauty’s chief marketing officer, Kory Marchisotto, Terry Crews, Bill Nye, astronaut Dr. Jeannette Epps, former astronaut Dr. Cady Coleman and more.

Nguyen’s work focuses on race and gender, helped launch the Stop Asian Hate movement and passed 83 laws to protect civil rights, including sexual assault survivor rights in the U.S. and the United Nations — she was nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize and a 2022 Time’s Woman of the Year for her activism.

Ngyuen has become a trailblazer in the aerospace sector in her own right. In 2024, Blue Origin announced she will become the first Vietnamese American and the first person of Southeast Asian descent to go into space with the aerospace company’s next launch on the New Shepard rocket.

“No one is powerless when we come together and no one is invisible when we demand to be seen,” Nguyen said in her opening remarks at the United Nations headquarters.

Nye was in attendance to applaud the astronauts in attendance and his hope for more women to join them. He has been a continued outspoken advocate for women in science and gender equality and shared the achievements of women scientists, including his mother and grandmother.

“What’s amazing about all of these women is that they accomplished something so difficult while operating in a system that was not designed to see them succeed,” said Nye. “I’m proud to have the chance today to salute these trailblazers. Meanwhile, we must also underscore the need to create professional, safe work environments for women in STEM and ensure that we enable future women to excel.”

Meanwhile, Crews has been a continued supporter of men and boys to become part of the solution, calling toxic masculinity a “global epidemic” and emphasizing that their real value to others is to “uplift those around them.”

Many of the astronauts who spoke cautioned against the rollback of DEI initiatives occurring across the U.S. And despite their successes, the astronauts experienced violence and discrimination, especially in the STEM fields that are dominated by men.

Tarang Amin, chairman and chief executive officer of E.l.f. Beauty, spoke to WWD earlier this month about how they refused to roll back on their inclusivity in the workforce — 44 percent of the company is diverse and 78 percent of its board are women.

In partnership with E.l.f. Beauty, Ngyuen was selected to be on an episode of “Show Your(s)e.l.f.” and was shown at the U.N. The film highlights Ngyuen’s resilience despite her sexual assault at Harvard, turning her pain into a justice movement and fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut. Ngyuen also spoke about how her family used celestial star navigation to escape Vietnam — making her dream that much more of a meaningful part of her life.

As a makeup lover, Ngyuen said that wearing E.l.f. Beauty’s red lipstick makes her feel “confident, bold and myself,” and went on to state that “joy is the most radical form of rebellion.”

“Our mission is to democratize dreams for the next generation of trailblazers and changemakers,” said Marchisotto to the U.N. “E.l.f.’s renegade spirit has become a symbol of the overlooked and a champion of the underdog. A beacon of the democratization of access to beauty, equity, boardrooms, playing fields and dreams.”