BOTHELL, Washington — With its commencement ceremony coming up this Sunday, June 10, at Safeco Field, the University of Washington Bothell has named entrepreneur Taylor Hoang its 2018 Distinguished Alumna of the Year.
The award recognizes UW Bothell alumni who have shown distinguished professional achievements or outstanding community service. Hoang, who received a business degree in 2002, heads the Pho Cyclo restaurant group and directs the Ethnic Business Coalition in Seattle.
Hoang had already started a business and was working full time when she enrolled in the University. “The professors, the administrators, the students were all very professional, very dedicated,” Hoang recalls. “We all had day jobs and were just there to finish our education and get our degrees.”
At the age of 21, Hoang, who was born in Vietnam, started a mortgage brokerage that catered to ethnic immigrants. Seven years later she saw an opportunity to bring Vietnamese comfort food to broader American appetites. She currently has five restaurants and a catering company in the Pho Cyclo restaurant group.
In 2013, Hoang founded the nonprofit Ethnic Business Coalition to promote and improve the long-term sustainability of immigrant and minority-owned businesses. Hoang serves as its executive director. She also is active in civic and business organizations. Honored to receive the UW Bothell Alumna of the Year Award, Hoang says, “I will carry the banner.”
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About UW Bothell: UW Bothell provides access to an exceptional University of Washington education to students in a campus environment that fosters student achievement. Offering more than 55 undergraduate and graduate degrees, options, certificates and concentrations, UW Bothell builds regional partnerships, inspires change, creates knowledge, shares discoveries and prepares students for leadership in the state of Washington and beyond.
