University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Hosts Hmong National Leadership Youth Summit

MILWAUKEE - The Hmong National Leadership Youth Summit is Sat., April 13, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The summit is one of the pre-conference activities scheduled before the Hmong National Development, Inc. Annual Hmong National Conference in Milwaukee, April 14-16. HND is a national nonprofit organization working to develop the full participation of Hmong people in society. Summit series presenters include:

Coalition Against Anti-Asian Violence is a grass-roots organization that works on community issues, such as anti-gentrification, welfare rights, organizing women in "informal" industries, and seeking justice for the Asian immigrant working class. The CAAAV Youth Leadership Project works with Southeast Asian youth to develop anti-poverty organizing strategies. YLP has developed a curriculum for youth organizers and has initiated the Southeast Asian Community Freedom Training, a training institute for Southeast Asian organizers around the county.

T.C. Duong is Project Manager of the Southeast Asian American Advocacy Initiative at the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center. Duong has extensive grassroots organizing and legislative experience. He was the East Field Manager of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. As East Field Manager, Duong provided technical assistance and training to PFLAG chapters on the east coast, and monitored legislation and policy on education issues.

Ben de Guzman is Community Education Coordinator at the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium. NAPALC is a national civil rights organization that has worked closely with HND and other organizations on issues of concern for the Hmong community and the broader Asian Pacific American community. He has addressed the Hmong Veteran's Act, welfare reform and hate crimes, and has worked extensively with Hmong community based organizations and other groups nationwide.

Community activist Kabzuab Vaj has helped organize political and social movements in the Southeast Asian community for 10 years. Her experience includes providing social support for teen runaways and Hmong girls to prevent early marriages. She helped organize students and community members take a stand on the 1996 welfare reform laws. She also helped organize students rally against tuition increases, unfair employment practices, and retention and recruitment of students of color. Recently she worked on a successful campaign to elect the first Southeast Asian person to the Madison, Wisconsin School Board.

For more information, please contact Mai Zong Vue, HND Board President and Contract Administrator with the State of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Division of Economic Support in the Refugee Services unit, at 608-267-7838 or email maizongvue@aol.com

For more information on the Summit or the HND conference, see the website at: http://www.hndlink.org/welcome.html

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