Channy Chhi Laux

Channy Laux is a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia.  She was thirteen-years-old when the Khmer Rouge took over the country in 1975.  From 1975 to 1979, Channy endured starvation, horrendous working conditions, sickness and repeated separations from her family.  

In June of 1979, Channy arrived in Lincoln Nebraska as a refugee.  After four years of no school and not knowing a word of English, she attended Lincoln High School; earned a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics from Santa Clara University and undergraduate degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  Channy worked in Silicon Valley as an engineer in the Aerospace and Biotech industries for 30 years.

In 2017 Channy decided to focus on completing a promise that she made to herself as she and her family struggled to survive the Cambodian genocide. “If I ever make it out alive, I will make sure the world knows what happened to us.”  Channy published her memoir “Short Hair Detention”, which receives multiple awards, including: 2018 Best Indie Book Award and Nebraska’s 2018 Book Award.

Channy is also founder of Angkor Cambodian Food.  Her goal is to bring Cambodian cuisine into American kitchens, by providing authentic and hard to find ingredients along with easy to follow recipes. One of her creations Kroeung (Lemongrass cooking paste) receives sofiTM Award from Specialty Foods and Innovation Foodservice Award from IFMA. Channy now balances her time between her business and educating communities on the Cambodian Genocide.  She works with schools and other organizations to promote awareness of Cambodian Genocide.  She is a member of the Speakers Bureau for JFCS Holocaust Center and for the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.