Board of Directors

Cathy Thao
President

Cathy Thao is the current Board President and CEO of HYPU. Her current professions include being a full-time Senior Legal Analyst at the Office of the Attorney General. She has served the community in North Sacramento ever since the age of 12. In 2004, Cathy found the Hmong Big Sib Little Sib Program to provide tutoring and mentoring services to newly arrived Hmong refugees from Thailand. She has always been an advocate for the Hmong community. Her community service work includes organizing conferences, public forums, and public events on the topics of education, civic engagement, and public safety. She has also volunteered as a master of ceremonies, workshop presenter, or panelist for many Hmong community events. From 2015 to 2016, she served as a Commissioner for Sacramento Community Police Commission. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of California, Davis. Shortly thereafter, Cathy attended an Indigenous Forum at the United Nations, headquartered in New York, and spoke on the issue of human rights. Her experience from that forum persuaded her to study law. In 2011, she obtained her Juris Doctorate from Lincoln Law School of Sacramento. During her spare time, Cathy loves to collect Hmong textiles and fabric, spend time with her husband and two handsome sons, go fishing, read inspirational books, and lead community projects.

Shoun Thao
Chief Financial Officer

Shoun Thao currently serves a City of Sacramento District 2 Council Representative for Councilmember Allen Wayne Warren. His experiences include research, resolving constituent affairs, coordinating and monitoring the implementation of events/projects and facilitating communication between council and city staff. Shoun holds a dual Bachelors of Arts in History and Chinese from the University of California, Davis..

Mai Yang Vang
Board of Director

Mai Yang Vang is the daughter of Hmong refugees from Laos. Vang is a proud Sacramento native and the eldest of 16 children. Vang is the Executive Director for the Buck Scholars Association and a lecturer in the Department of Asian American Studies at UC Davis and Ethnic Studies at California State University, Sacramento. Mai was elected to the Sacramento City School Board in November of 2016 and is the first Hmong elected official in Sacramento.

Mai co-founded Hmong Innovating Politics (HIP) whose mission is to strengthen the power of disenfranchised communities through innovative civic engagement and strategic grassroots mobilization. Prior to being elected to the Sacramento City School Board, Vang worked tirelessly as a community organizer to improve health and educational outcomes for children and families in south Sacramento. Vang currently serves on the board of directors for the Center for Land-Based Learning, Hmong Youth & Parents United and Hmong Innovating Politics. Vang has worked on education, labor and racial/ethnic health disparities with various local and national Asian American & Pacific Islander policy and government organizations.

Mai lives in the Meadowview Neighborhood in south Sacramento. Vang holds Bachelors’ in Biology and Sociology from the University of San Francisco and dual Master's degrees in Public Health and Asian American Studies from UCLA. During her free time, she enjoys kickboxing and spending time with her 15 siblings.

Nha Thai Thao
Board of Director

Nha Thai Thao, at the age of 16 years old, with not even a dollar to his name, sought refuge to San Francisco, CA in 1980 after escaping Laos where the Hmong participated in the Secret War, aiding the United States during the Vietnam War. He married his wife, Youa Lee, in 1982 Richmond, CA and both raised six beautiful children together.

Nha Thai moved to Sacramento in 1996 and began his real estate management and investment career, buying and managing property in the city of Marysville and Sacramento and renting to low income families. He was appointed by the City of Sacramento to serve two terms on the Del Paso Heights Redevelopment Advisory Committee on Seat C. He revived and served as President of Hmong Youth and Parent's United and founded the Hmong Enrichment Summer Program. He also co-founded the Hmong Organizing for Progress and Empowerment Center (H.O.P.E Center) allowing for exchange of arts, culture, history, knowledge, and opportunities for Hmong here and abroad.

Nkauj Iab Yang
Board of Director

Nkauj Iab Yang is the Director of Youth Justice with Hmong Innovating Politics California. She grew up in Del Paso Heights where she learned first-hand the power of taking initiative to create change for the community. Nkauj Iab graduated from Grant Union High School in 2002 and received her Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2012, she went on to pursue her Master of Arts in Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University.

Nkauj Iab has over thirteen years of working with youth and young adults in hopes to provide brave spaces for young people to realize their power and voices in impacting change. Her experiences working with youth ranges from organizing with grassroots groups, fostering leadership in young people, and providing direct services to sexually exploited minors. In 2016 to 2019, Nkauj Iab was the Director of California with the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) where she advocated for just policies to increase equity and access for Southeast Asian Americans across California.

With Nkauj Iab's passion to fight for racial justice and social justice and her years of community organizing, she hopes to increase the civic and political engagement of the Hmong and Southeast Asian American communities throughout the Central Valley, while working in coalition with other communities of colors.

Dr. Nha Bee Herr
Board of Director