Biography
Huy Tran was born in the United States as the child of war refugees. His parents were part of the wave of refugees known as Boat People, so named because they fled from Vietnam by boat. Like hundreds of thousands of others, his parents made their way into shipping lanes where they were rescued by merchant ships that passed through. Though they arrived in the United States a year apart, both of his parents entered the US via a Hong Kong refugee camp.
It is through the lens of his parents’ experiences that Huy came to dedicate his professional career to social justice. Since high school, he organized those around him to ensure greater resources for students and communities of color and protect the rights of workers and immigrants. As a young community organizer, Huy helped build regional, statewide, and national networks for the Vietnamese Student Association and continued organizing in Santa Clara County through the Vietnamese American Roundtable. As a union organizer for UNITE HERE, Huy organized immigrant and refugee workers in Santa Clara County, Biloxi, Mississippi, and Washington, D.C. As a lawyer, Huy co-founded Justice at Work Law Group, a social justice and worker’s rights law firm that represented employees in industries ranging from restaurants and hotels to construction to private security and more.
Huy became Interim Executive Director for SIREN in May 2023 and later the permanent Director in May of 2024.
