Katie Lee Yang
Katie is the proud mom of three beautiful, adventurous, and cheeky children who keep both her and her husband very busy but quite happy. She has been traveling the country for the past decade in support of her husband's military service, but recently settled back home to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Katie holds a Masters Degree in Elementary Education and recently taught 1st grade. During her very few moments of free time, she loves to cook, try new places to eat, enjoy the outdoors, and spend time with her families and friends.
Kaozouapa Elizabeth Lee
Kaozouapa works to bridge the gap between people and policies. A beneficiary of programs like Head Start and public housing, she is a progressive AAPI woman passionate about enacting policies that uplift all families, and also unravel generations of harmful policies enacted to further institutionalize racism. She enjoys crying while watching Korean soap operas, and reading her favorite classical, and Asian American writers. When she sneaks in the time, she loves to cook and bake.
Mai Nhia Vang
Mai Nhia is a public health professional working in our nation’s capital to improve access, service, and quality of health care. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a Master of Public Health degree, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Welfare, Ethnic Studies, and Education from the University of California, Berkeley. Mai Nhia’s lifelong goal of achieving health equity stems from her background growing up in a low-income, refugee community in South Sacramento, California. On her spare time and away from the work grind, she loves to check out locally-owned workout studios.
Pajouablai Monica Lee
Monica is a proud Hmong American community advocate from St. Paul, Minnesota. After graduating from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, she moved to Washington, D.C. where she managed three national AAPI programs for five years. Monica now lives in Berkeley, CA with her fiance and two sweet dogs, Layla and Aurora. She holds an MPA from UC Berkeley and currently works as a Regional Program Director for the Made to Save campaign. She loves to travel, be outdoors, and watch Korean & Bollywood movies. She also occasionally weightlifts after eating a bag of hot Cheetos. Monica is a do-gooder at heart and strives for a more equitable world for low-income youth and communities of color.
All “Not Your Average Mai” logos and caricatures were created by Cindy Nguyen and MaiThao Nguyen. We thank them for their talent and support!