MAI ZONG VUE
Mai Zong has been a tireless advocate for the poor for the past 30 years, especially the Hmong and refugees. She began to advocate for her family, extended family, and then the Hmong community in the 1980’s. Mai Zong’s advocacy and grass-root activist led to the development of Hmong and refugee women non-profit agencies in Wisconsin and Georgia to provide human service, health and women’s empowerment/leadership services for refugee women in the 1990’s.
Nationally, Mai Zong served on a variety of boards that help improved the lives of others. Internationally, she volunteered as a delegate to global gatherings that aim to advance the status of women and children, including State Department’s Hmong American Delegation to Napho refugee camp in 1996 and United Nation’s 4th Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.
Mai Zong’s volunteer work ranges from being a former board president for Hmong National Development, Inc., a national non-profit agency based in Washington, D.C. advocating for Hmong in America; a former board member with Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children in New York; Co-founded the Refugee Women’s Network, a national non-profit agency based in Atlanta, GA; Co-founder, co-producer and host of the Hmong American cable TV show in Appleton; to locally serving as a board member for the Overture’s Community Advisory Board. To institutionalize Hmong American experiences in Wisconsin, Mai Zong led the community advocacy effort for the development of Hmong Studies since 2000.
Mai Zong received numerous awards and honors for her tireless effort in serving the poor, including the Dane County YMCA’s Women of Distinction Award in 2007, Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Abuse’s Nancy Worcester Award in 1999, and Outstanding Service Award from Department of Workforce Development in 1999.
Mai Zong received a MSSW from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1997 and a bachelor degree in Business Administration from Lakeland College in 1990. She currently works for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services as the Outreach Coordinator for the Underserved Populations.