Bích Ngọc Cao

I believe in public service and the life-changing power of music.

Bích Ngọc Cao is a digital media, marketing, and communications executive whose career spans startups, media, entertainment, government, and nonprofits. She currently serves as Senior Advisor, Communications, at the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Previously, she was COO at Define American, the nation’s leading nonprofit narrative change organization that uses the power of storytelling to humanize conversations about immigrants. Define American was named to Fast Company's list of the "World's Most Innovative Companies" in the film and television category, for the organization's work with entertainment industry professionals to elevate storylines around race, immigration, and citizenship and change viewers’ perception of immigrants.

Prior to Define American, Bích Ngọc led special projects at the Los Angeles Times, where she worked with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Jonathan Gold and Jose Antonio Vargas on building new digital content verticals.

She began her career at MySpace, launching the original MySpace Music and leading editorial as a core member of the team that built a fledgling social network into a global entertainment destination. Her experience running MySpace Music has been chronicled in the book “Top Eight: How MySpace Changed Music.”

After MySpace, Bích Ngọc joined Bobby Shriver and Bono to co-found and launch (RED), a groundbreaking product partnership amongst global brands such as Apple, Gap, Converse, and American Express. To date, (RED) has generated more than $760 million for HIV/AIDS grants.

She served as digital marketing director at Capitol Music Group’s Harvest Records and Warner Bros. Records, where she created campaigns for artists such as TV On The Radio, Banks, Glass Animals, The New Basement Tapes (featuring Elvis Costello and Marcus Mumford), and The Veronicas.

A lifelong Angeleno and USC alumna, Bích Ngọc is committed to public service and served for eight years as president of the Board of Library Commissioners for the city of Los Angeles. During her tenure at the Los Angeles Public Library, the 73-branch library system received the nation’s highest library honor, the National Medal for Museum and Library Service.

She serves on the board of directors of the Center for Investigative Journalism, a multimedia nonprofit news organization that produces Mother Jones magazine, the Reveal public radio show and podcast, and a range of documentary feature films and series, news reports, and animations.

Bích Ngọc wrote an essay about online organizing in the New York Times-bestselling book “MoveOn’s 50 Ways to Love Your Country.”

As a teenager, Bích Ngọc was a lead plaintiff in the education equity lawsuit Williams v California. The landmark class-action case settled for $1 billion for public schools and resulted in legislation that required the state to provide basic necessities for students such as books, safe classrooms, and qualified teachers.