This summer, FairVote president and CEO Rob Richie is taking his first sabbatical from the organization in 30 years. From now until Rob’s return on November 1, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Lan Nguyen will serve as FairVote’s acting CEO.

Below is a short Q&A with Lan about what led her to FairVote, how she feels entering this role, and what she’s most excited about in the coming months.

Q: Tell us about your history with FairVote. 

A: I first joined FairVote four years ago as a consultant because of the opportunities I saw. I’ve been able to build and scale systems and processes that weren’t there before, and make an impact on the organization from an employee health and wellness perspective.

Two years in, I was given an opportunity to join as an employee in this role as Chief Operating Officer, and it has been remarkable to see the organization grow since then – to see the new faces of my colleagues in the organization, and to bring on a fully formed leadership team. These colleagues and leaders – along with our many partners in the movement – are driving the work for ranked choice voting, the fastest-growing nonpartisan election reform in the nation.   

This work is personal for me: I grew up in Vietnam without a lot of the rights that we take for granted here in the U.S. So ever since I came to the U.S. when I was 14, I’ve taken the right to vote very seriously. To work for an organization dedicated to electoral reforms, better representation, and a fairer voting process is very meaningful to me.

Q: How are you feeling as you step up as acting CEO?

A: I’m feeling super-excited and confident. As much as Rob says he’s learned from me, I’ve learned just as much from him. That’s not just about the content of the work that we do, but also about what it means to be a humble leader and a learning leader.

FairVote has already trusted me to put new processes in place, update our policies, and build the capacity of this team. We now have a fully empowered leadership team: Ashley Houghton, a communications and issue-area expert, is overseeing our Programs and Policy team. We now have a full development team that was previously just Rob alone. We now have Suvarna Hulawale, who is overseeing our Strategy and Learning processes. So I feel really confident.

Q: What do you expect the next few months to look like for you and FairVote? 

A: Our team has developed goals and priorities for 2023, and I want to make sure we finish the year strong. I want to make sure that we make our staff and board proud, and I want to make sure that we keep ranked choice voting’s incredible momentum. My top organizational priorities include overseeing our strategic planning work, growing our team members as leaders, and onboarding new staff who can scale FairVote’s impact. 

So there’s a lot of work in a very short period of time, but we’re ready. I’m very excited for the future.