Born December 19, 1949

Ky La (now Xa Hoa Qui), Vietnam

Director of the East Meets West Foundation and author

Le Ly Hayslip. © Robert Eric/Corbis Sygma.

"Working together to heal the wounds of war."

Le Ly Hayslip experienced and survived the horrors of war. She persevered through many hardships and became a force for uniting once bitter enemies by creating the East Meets West Foundation. Building clinics, schools, and rehabilitation centers in Vietnam with the assistance of American Vietnam War veterans and other donors, the East Meets West Foundation improved life in Vietnam and promoted understanding and respect between people in her native country (Vietnam) and her adopted country (the United States).

Hayslip is also well known for her two memoirs, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places (1989) and Child of War, Woman of Peace (1993). The first book shows the effects of the Vietnam War...