Nee Xiong has been involved with Hmong Early Childhood Coalition since 2015. Nee’s interest and passion has always been in early childhood. She started her career out as a lead teacher in a daycare center to becoming a preschool teacher and program lead at a charter school in St. Paul. Through her classroom experiences, she saw the barriers and challenges families came across in supporting their children. No longer in the classroom, Nee works to advocate for and provide relevant resources to families and caregivers to ensure their children receive the support needed to be successful.
Zang Vang-Lee is a mother of three teenagers, two boys and a girl. She has been involved with Hmong Early Childhood Coalition since 2010 when it was still Hmong Early Childhood Summit. Zang has been in the early childhood field for over 10 years and has been working with schools, families and communities advocating for more equitable resources and services. One of her interests is to see and understand the cultural dynamics and experiences of young Hmong children in other parts of the world as it relates to early childhood development and education.
Mai Chang is an invested parent and advocate raising awareness about early childhood development, intervention and services. In 2008, she gave birth to her first child which inspired and grew her interest in infant and early childhood development. Now a mother of four, Mai continues to fight for equity and quality improvement in the areas of education and mental health assisting parents and caregivers how to navigate multiple complex systems. Much of her motivation lies in her strong desire to alleviate access barriers for families with young children.
Lani Xiong is a senior at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse as a Public Health student. During her time in La Crosse, she was able to invest her time in advocacy work for the Hmong community and really engaged herself with youth work. She’s been a teacher assistant at a local daycare, a mentor to underrepresented children in the La Crosse school district, and soon became an advocate at a local Hmong non profit in the La Crosse area. She wants to further her passion of bettering the Hmong community through public health services and making sure all children are getting the resources and opportunities accessible and available to them.
Pa Nhia Xiong is a stay at home mom. She has two handsome young boys, ages 1 and 4. She started working in the early childhood field in 2013 after graduating with her AAS in Early Childhood Education. Pa Nhia started to realize that there were not very many young minority children attending childcare centers. She decided to be an advocate for young minority children and their families who were not aware of the resources that were available to them in their community. She further her education and obtained her BA in Human Services and minor in Family Studies. Pa Nhia joined the Head Start executive team in 2016 and have gained an abundance of knowledge about the importance of education for young children under the age of five in the low-income communities. She is eager to be a part of the Hmong Early Childhood Coalition team and be of service to the community.
Xee Chang was raised and born in California. She graduated with her Bachelors in Child Development from California State University of Fresno. She grew up in a big family of 11 siblings and was always surrounded by children. Xee have a passion working with children and worked from child care to school settings for about 8 years now. Currently, Xee is a Pre-Kindergarten Teacher at Hope Academy School. She got involved with HECC by attending one of their training sessions and was admired by the work they do. She became part of HECC last year in November 2021.
Bao Vang recently came back to join Hmong Earlychildhood Coalition after stepping away for a few years. Being interested in early learning education at a young age, Bao has been in the classroom teaching our young kids to training early childhood educators and providers for over 10 years. With being in multiple learning environments, Bao is motivated to assist in helping families create the village that is needed to raise their children.