My Why
I grew up hearing stories from my Hmong elders and parents about their treacherous journey in surviving the Secret War, a covert war in which the U.S. CIA recruited Hmong people to fight off communism during the Vietnam War. I still remember the chills and goosebumps I had as a little girl listening to my parents recount the pain in fleeing genocide and political persecution after the war was lost. They journeyed from the jungles of Laos, crossed the Mekong River, lived in the Thailand refugee camps, and ultimately took refuge in the United States. My parents are my why. They left behind all that they knew and had in their home country in pursuit of life and a future that was worth fighting for. Because of this, I commit to living life being able to overcome anything.
Poverty Powerfully Transformed Me To Fight For Justice
In March 1989, my parents resettled in the United States and were transplanted in the projects of Duluth. There, they bore my four older siblings and I. Through the help of welfare, government assistance, and Dad’s job at a bakery earning $4 an hour, Mom raised me and my siblings. Though we were barely surviving and living at the bottom of the economic and social ladder, my parents refused to let our circumstances define us. Rather, they sought the importance of community and opportunity and moved us to North Minneapolis where more was possible for the both of them economically. Rather, they sought the importance of community and opportunity and moved us to North Minneapolis where more was possible for the both of them economically. Rather, they sought the importance of community and opportunity and moved us to North Minneapolis where more was possible for the both of them economically. It was also where we could be closer to our extended family and people who looked like us and spoke our native Hmong language. Mom and Dad landed full-time jobs as medical-assemblers and eventually achieved their dreams of homeownership. I have very fond memories of playing in the backyard of my childhood home in Brooklyn Park. I have less fond memories though, of the recession and the foreclosure on my parents’ dream home in 2013. We lost our family home just two days before my high school graduation from Park Center Senior High and immediately relocated to Saint Paul. As painful as it was to lose our home, I knew it pained my parents more because they felt they had failed us. I lacked the words and proper knowledge to protect my parents and to understand what happened to us and families who experienced our similar loss and grief. I began searching for answers. In 2015, I found a voice in grassroots community organizing. I found healing, liberation, and a true calling in this work. I promised myself I would never let poverty be the author of my destiny or anyone else’s again.
My Organizing Journey & Lifetime Commitment To Community
I began community organizing in 2015 to liberate myself and communities from the chains of racism, sexism, and classism that kept us from living joyful and dignified lives. Through organizing, I learned how to turn my pain and anger into a fire that fought for justice–to dismantle the isms at the root of injustices my family and many families across the nation experienced.
I actively volunteered on campaigns to elect progressive champions like former Saint Paul Councilmember Dai Thao into office. I wanted to have elected leaders who cared about uplifting our most marginalized communities and advancing equity. These campaigns led me to issue-based organizing where I worked in coalition with people and organizations to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour and pass Earned Sick and Safe Time in Saint Paul. These victorious, people-led campaigns became a pillar in my leadership growth. I took my passion to the next level by working for people-centered organizations like TakeAction Minnesota and Hmong Americans for Justice. With courage and determination, I ran for office in 2018 to ensure that the community I loved in the East Side of Saint Paul was represented by a progressive, working class champion who worked collectively to unite and improve the lives of people across race, class, gender, age, and disability. I was elected in 2019 and became the youngest and first Hmong-American woman elected to the Saint Paul City Council. It’s now been seven meaningful years of co-governing for and with the community to work towards our biggest hopes and dreams.
Paying It Forward
My life accomplishments are not mine alone. Through the power of people, my dreams have been made possible, which is why I continue building a leadership pipeline of candidates and leaders in the community. I coach, chair, and advise electoral campaigns, and one of my proudest wins is the election of Ramsey County’s first Hmong American woman County Commissioner, Mai Chong Xiong. During my youth years, I had the honor to be a part of a life-changing youth afterschool program called Culture, Leadership, Integrity, Motivate, and Build (CLIMB). CLIMB continues to make a positive impact in my life today. Founded in 2007 by one of my lifelong mentors, Linda Cha, CLIMB empowered me to unleash myself from limiting beliefs I had as a Hmong woman and choose to live life differently from social norms. It gave me opportunities to challenge myself and be comfortable with the uncomfortable. Most importantly, it gave me the tools to be a leader, show up as a team player, and be coachable. CLIMB is the foundation of my leadership, and I pay it forward to Linda and all who have made a positive impact in my life by bringing this experience full circle in coaching others to step into their own transformational leadership as well. With this investment, I want everyone to live their life with courage and clarity in order to soar in reaching their hopes and dreams and be the best version of themselves.