L-R: Bo Thao-Urabe and Kaoly Ilean Her Photo by Mary Turck “We are the experts on our lives and on our needs. Women have to speak up. Women have to organize if we want to elect someone who will care about us.” – Kaoly Ilean Her
The first Hmong candidates to win elected office were Minnesota women: Choua Lee on the St. Paul school board in 1991 and Mee Moua in the Minnesota Senate in 2002. Now, in 2016, Minnesota has the first Hmong women’s political action committee: Maiv PAC. (“Maiv” is pronounced “my,” which is a term of endearment.)
Mary Turck
News Day 