Loung Ung
Loung Ung is a survivor of the killing fields of Cambodia, one of the bloodiest episodes of the twentieth century. Born in 1970 to a middle class family in Phnom Penh, Loung was only five years old when her family was forced out of the city in a mass evacuation to the countryside. By 1978, the Khmer Rouge had killed Loung’s parents and two of her siblings. In 1980, she and her older brother escaped by boat to Thailand, where they spent five months in a refugee camp. They relocated to Vermont through sponsorship by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Holy Family Church parish in Burlington.
In 1995, Loung returned to Cambodia for a memorial service for the victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide. She was shocked and saddened to learn that twenty of her relatives had been killed, and thousands of the survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide were still being maimed, injured, and killed each year by an old threat: antipersonnel land-mines. She decided she needed to act. Loung became the National Spokesperson for the Campaign for a Landmine-Free World (the international version of the Campaign won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize) and wrote two best-selling memoirs about her experiences. Loung has dedicated her life to promoting equality, human rights, and justice in her native land and worldwide.
Named one of the “100 Global Youth Leaders of Tomorrow” by The World Economic Forum, Loung is the National Spokesperson for the Campaign for the Landmine-Free World and the Spokesperson for The Cambodia Fund, which runs prosthetic and land-mine recovery centers in Cambodia. She has been the subject of documentaries for the German ARTE, Japanese NHK, and U.S. NECN. She has been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, and the London Sunday Times and in Biography, and on National Public Radio’s The Diane Rehm Show, Talk of the Nation, Weekend Edition, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Nightline, The Today Show with Matt Lauer and Katie Couric, and other news programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox, and C-SPAN.
Her award-winning book First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers, tells the story of her struggle to survive. It is a national bestseller and has been published in eleven countries. First They Killed My Father won the ALAPA award for "Excellence in Adult Non-fiction Literature" in 2001 and was selected by the ALA as a 'Best Book for Young Adults'.
Lucky Child, her second book, tells the story of her years in America and the sister she left behind. Both works are used in college and community reading programs.
A seasoned lecturer, Loung has a commanding stage presence. She regularly receives standing ovations at the conclusion of her impacting, hard hitting, and emotional presentations. Loung Ung has shared her messages of civic service, activism, and leadership at numerous symposia in the U.S. and internationally, including: the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), The Million Dollar Round Table Plenary, Linkage Inc, Sony, Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, the UN Conference on Women, the UN Conference Against Racism, the Child Soldiers Conference in Katmandu, Nepal, and many other organizations, schools, and corporate venues.
MOST REQUESTED TOPICS:
Leaders are made, not born!
Raised in a Chinese-Cambodian-American culture where women were seldom seen and rarely heard, Loung broke through the bamboo wall to find success in her personal and professional life. In Leaders are Made, Loung shares her childhood story, her external and internal battles, and five lessons gathered from many life-times of experiences on how leaders are made and not born in America. Funny, fast-talking, dynamic, and real, Loung will move, entertain, and challenge audience members to take leadership roles in their own lives and communities.
Beyond Surviving to Thriving: The Journey to Success
Loung Ung has been called a hero and a Global Leader; after her speech, the audience will understand why. Loung shares her journey from child soldier to a warrior for peace. She paints pictures with vivid prose, high octane energy and irrepressible passion to describe how she overcame dislocation, trauma, cultural and language barriers to build a successful new life in America. Weaving stories of her childhood surviving the Khmer Rouge genocide, and her fifteen years experience working as a human rights activist on various campaigns—including the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines—Loung shows that your past does not have to determine your future. Loung’s tale will uplift, transform, and motivate audience members to march forward in their own ‘journey to success'.
Presentation Themes and Messages: Inspirational, Motivational, Civic Service, Leadership, Writing Life, Health and Healing.
Loung Ung is a survivor of the killing fields of Cambodia, one of the bloodiest episodes of the twentieth century. Born in 1970 to a middle class family in Phnom Penh, Loung was only five years old when her family was forced out of the city in a mass evacuation to the countryside. By 1978, the Khmer Rouge had killed Loung’s parents and two of her siblings. In 1980, she and her older brother escaped by boat to Thailand, where they spent five months in a refugee camp. They relocated to Vermont through sponsorship by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Holy Family Church parish in Burlington.
In 1995, Loung returned to Cambodia for a memorial service for the victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide. She was shocked and saddened to learn that twenty of her relatives had been killed, and thousands of the survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide were still being maimed, injured, and killed each year by an old threat: antipersonnel land-mines. She decided she needed to act. Loung became the National Spokesperson for the Campaign for a Landmine-Free World (the international version of the Campaign won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize) and wrote two best-selling memoirs about her experiences. Loung has dedicated her life to promoting equality, human rights, and justice in her native land and worldwide.
Named one of the “100 Global Youth Leaders of Tomorrow” by The World Economic Forum, Loung is the National Spokesperson for the Campaign for the Landmine-Free World and the Spokesperson for The Cambodia Fund, which runs prosthetic and land-mine recovery centers in Cambodia. She has been the subject of documentaries for the German ARTE, Japanese NHK, and U.S. NECN. She has been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, and the London Sunday Times and in Biography, and on National Public Radio’s The Diane Rehm Show, Talk of the Nation, Weekend Edition, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Nightline, The Today Show with Matt Lauer and Katie Couric, and other news programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox, and C-SPAN.
Her award-winning book First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers, tells the story of her struggle to survive. It is a national bestseller and has been published in eleven countries. First They Killed My Father won the ALAPA award for "Excellence in Adult Non-fiction Literature" in 2001 and was selected by the ALA as a 'Best Book for Young Adults'.
Lucky Child, her second book, tells the story of her years in America and the sister she left behind. Both works are used in college and community reading programs.
A seasoned lecturer, Loung has a commanding stage presence. She regularly receives standing ovations at the conclusion of her impacting, hard hitting, and emotional presentations. Loung Ung has shared her messages of civic service, activism, and leadership at numerous symposia in the U.S. and internationally, including: the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), The Million Dollar Round Table Plenary, Linkage Inc, Sony, Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, the UN Conference on Women, the UN Conference Against Racism, the Child Soldiers Conference in Katmandu, Nepal, and many other organizations, schools, and corporate venues.
MOST REQUESTED TOPICS:
Leaders are made, not born!
Raised in a Chinese-Cambodian-American culture where women were seldom seen and rarely heard, Loung broke through the bamboo wall to find success in her personal and professional life. In Leaders are Made, Loung shares her childhood story, her external and internal battles, and five lessons gathered from many life-times of experiences on how leaders are made and not born in America. Funny, fast-talking, dynamic, and real, Loung will move, entertain, and challenge audience members to take leadership roles in their own lives and communities.
Beyond Surviving to Thriving: The Journey to Success
Loung Ung has been called a hero and a Global Leader; after her speech, the audience will understand why. Loung shares her journey from child soldier to a warrior for peace. She paints pictures with vivid prose, high octane energy and irrepressible passion to describe how she overcame dislocation, trauma, cultural and language barriers to build a successful new life in America. Weaving stories of her childhood surviving the Khmer Rouge genocide, and her fifteen years experience working as a human rights activist on various campaigns—including the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines—Loung shows that your past does not have to determine your future. Loung’s tale will uplift, transform, and motivate audience members to march forward in their own ‘journey to success'.
Presentation Themes and Messages: Inspirational, Motivational, Civic Service, Leadership, Writing Life, Health and Healing.
