.Profiles in Justice: Executive Assistant Jennifer Nguyen

Philadelphia (The Justice Wire): Jennifer Nguyen is a problem solver and trouble shooter by nature and heavily relies on her diplomatic persistence in managing the various hats she wears as Executive Assistant to First Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Engel Temin. “I feel like there’s nothing I can’t do. That’s how I tackle everything. I just have to figure out how to do it. I’m really happy that I took this position. I’ve never done executive work before but I’m the type of person that is willing to learn. I’m willing to take risk. I think that’s one of the best things about me.”
Nguyen was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, and her family moved to Philadelphia when she was 13 years old. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Temple University in Criminal Justice and began working at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office (DAO) as a paralegal in the Charging Unit for over a year. During this time Nguyen realized that she didn’t have much interest in pursuing a law degree, and decided to explore “the administrative side of things” instead. She applied to the Executive Assistant position with First Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Engel Temin.

“I’ve learned so much since I started working for Judge Temin. It’s just nonstop, every week there’s something new, there’s always something different, and I really like that.” Nguyen welcomes the variety of experiences she is having in her position. Nguyen’s responsibilities include coordinating the mandatory Thursday trainings, meetings with internal staff and external partners, as well as managing Temin’s schedule. Additionally, she assists in drafting referral letters to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and corresponding with them to provide them with necessary documents. Nguyen took a key role in managing and fielding questions for the DAO CONNECT Hotline established for employees at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nguyen also assisted in the formation of the DAO Election Taskforce and was responsible for soliciting volunteers and managing their schedules to ensure that there was adequate coverage for each shift during election season. She also lends her talents and skills to assist the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) with auditing files and ensuring that all of the essential testimonies needed for cases are adequately documented. “I want people to realize it takes a lot of patience to do executive work. I hope that people are appreciative of what I do,” says Nguyen.