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Abby Nguyen

Abby Nguyen-Burke

Senior Vice President, Team Leader

Meet With Abby

Abby has over 19 years of business and community development experience in the Boston Metro area. She is currently leading a new lending initiative focused on serving the needs of women entrepreneurs and small business owners who are people of color. 

Abby is first generation Vietnamese-American. Growing up as a refugee, she prioritizes the importance of family and community, and she strives to make a meaningful and lasting impact in the community where she lives and works. Recently, she was named as one of the 2022 40 Under 40 by the Boston Business Journal as well as one of the 2022 Emerging Leaders by the American Bankers Association. 

As of 2023, Abby serves as Vice-Chair for the Policy Committee for the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA). In this role, she helps to lead members from 45 chapters across the country as they gather in Washington, D.C. for the 2023 Diversity and Fair Housing Summit to lobby and advocate for AAPI homeownership rights. Abby served as Chairperson for the AREAA Boston Chapter in 2021 and 2022. At Eastern, Abby has served as Co-Chair of the Asian American Professional Collective since 2012. She was formerly Board Chairperson and President of Quincy Asian Resources, Inc. for over 12 years, a volunteer teacher at Citizen Schools, Advisory Board member of Women of Means, and a volunteer for VIETAID and Dorchester House. Abby has been certified by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce with a Transformational DEI Certificate and is an alumna of The Boston Partnership. In 2014, she was named as one of the 40 under 40 by South Shore Stars, and in 2018 was named GK25 Boston’s 25 Most Influential Millennials of Color by Get Konnected!

What was your first experience with a small business? 

Helping my father with his small business. As an immigrant, my father had the opportunity to work in a printing shop and learned all the skills to eventually open his own shop. For over 20 years, he was the go-to printing company for the Vietnamese community in the Greater Boston area, printing menus, business cards, wedding invitations and more. Growing up I was tasked to help him with translating materials, responding to customers, helping with invoices and more. Through this experience, I saw my dad waking up early, coming home late, and working on the weekends. He was the end-all of every issue and decision for the company. 

What does Equity Alliance for Business mean to you? 

Growing up as a first generation Vietnamese American, I have always been passionate to help the underserved and underrepresented. Equity Alliance for Business gives more fuel to my fire to advocate for change and assist in elevating businesses owned by women and people of color. 

What excites you about Equity Alliance for Business? Collaboration. Seeing individuals and teams step out of their comfort level to become allies for this community. Collaboration is a big aspect of Equity Alliance for Business, from the planning to the launch and future delivery. Internal and external collaborations are essential. I’m excited to be a part of an ecosystem that prioritizes seeing everyone prosper and succeed. 

What’s a favorite story involving a small business? 

I have many favorites, but a standout story is about a small business I helped open its first free business checking account when it launched and I was working in a branch in retail banking. As the business has grown, I’ve been able to continue helping them with their lending needs as a business banker. 

“Small business” means to me… 

Grit, passion, entrepreneur.