Embracing Hmong Women Identities Summit
The Embracing Hmong Women Identities Summit provides a space for Hmong women students in higher education to openly speak about their experiences as individuals of multiple identities.
You’re invited to register to attend our upcoming 2020 Embracing Hmong Women Identities Summit. Our theme this year is, "Still, We Rise to Empower Hmong Women".
The summit aims to provide a culturally-relevant and safe space for participants to create a sense of belonging and empowerment amongst each other with the emphasis of promoting higher education. Through the workshops and activities, our participants will gain an understanding and appreciation of their own experience navigating through their educational journey. They will also be able to identify solutions and resources to address their challenges. To fulfill our goals, the following are the objectives for this year’s summit:
Priority is given to college students, and seating is limited and available on a first come, first serve basis. Breakfast, lunch, and parking permit will be provided.
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Keynote Speaker
star b. leeStar B. Lee is a South Sacramento native that carries her city with her wherever she goes. With an extensive background in political work since 2006, social justice work has surrounded the theme of Star’s life into the present day, lobbying Dianne Feinstein, Kamala Harris, and working alongside Bernie Sanders in Education reform. She was the National Asian American & Pacific Islander Coalition Caucus Chair from 2017-2018 for the United States Student Association, the first college student organization in the country holding a national presence headquartered in Washington D.C., with social justice roots from Oakland, San Fransisco, Sacramento, and Southern California…today, Star is the Assistant Editor for Hmong American Experience, the fastest-growing Hmong cultural platform in the country.
A rebel at heart, Star navigates distributing literature through the Hmong community with an iron fist—channeling the power of Hmong women, rooted deeply in the soil of the Hmong community. Star is in her last year at the University of California, Riverside double majoring in Business Administration (B.S.) and Political Science (B.A.). Writing fiercely, Star continues to grow since her 2017 debut article “The Home in My Heart Stands Still” a dedication to all Hmong generations before and after. Star navigates the world guided by a higher source, one that she dedicates her life to her ancestral roots, conjuring the radicalization of the shaman identity. |
summit agenda |
Registration / Breakfast
Opening Welcome Speech Keynote Speaker Breakout Session 01 Energizer & Lunch Breakout Session 02 Closing |
First Breakout Session (11:30-12:45)
workshop 01
A Path of Our Own
Facilitated by Crystal Lee Sometimes the path we walk is not the one we desire. Sometimes the path we walk is the one our parents (or other people) want for us, and because they want it for us - and we want to make them happy - we walk it. We walk until our feet bleeds. We walk until we are burnt out, unhappy, and piled under $65,000 in student loans we never wanted. What path did you want to walk as a child? What path did you want to walk - if you could choose a path of your own? This workshop is based off of the presenter, Crystal Lee’s life and the life lessons she’s learned on her journey of finally finding the path she loves. |
workshop 02Managing Others to Develop Oneself
Facilitated by Keras Lo, Pharm.D., BCPS, CDE What is a manager and what does it take to be a good one? There are unique barriers that may be faced by Hmong women in Management. Drawing from my experiences as a clinical pharmacy supervisor in a large healthcare plan, participants will explore the job description of a manager, including how to use authority and influence change. There will be discussions on solutions to overcome identified barriers and key strategies that will lead to success. Participants can easily apply these solutions and strategies to other areas of their lives to build career fulfillment and personal growth. |
Workshop 03
Food for Thought
Facilitated by Renee Ya “Food for Thought” is to engage the participants to think about their environmental impacts to their life and how it may also impact reaching their higher education goals. This exercise seeks to create meaningful dialog between students in hopes that by sharing their thoughts their peers can relate to it. By allowing students to vocalize their feelings this helps others to empathize. Creating empathy for a person increases their interpersonal skills, creating deeper connections and a stronger community. This ultimately creates a networking opportunity that can last longer than just for the session of the workshop. By offering each person’s opinions, students are allowed the ability to digest each other’s food for thought. |
Second Breakout Session (2:30-3:45)
workshop 01
Manifest Your Creative Desires Into Reality
Facilitated by Stacey Lo This workshop is for participants who are having a burning desire to transform their creative ideas, passion, and dreams into something real that the rest of the world can experience! All participants will be 1) engaging in guided visual meditation, 2) mapping out their desires, intentions, and manifestation plan, 3) empowering with their own action list of what is needed to transition from ideas into reality, and 4) creating a take-home zine on how to manifest their creative desire into reality. |
workshop 02
"What are you waiting for?" (Grad School Edition)
Facilitated by Hnou Lee, M.S. & Pajha Xiong DISCLAIMER: Not your generic PowerPoint presentation about how to apply for grad school, but we can get you there after the presentation, too. Participants will discover Empowerment for higher education as a Hmong Woman, “define their “why”, and identify the obstacles in their path to graduate school. Discover your true path to empowerment through the “Empowerment Experience,” a tool that was developed by the Intercultural Resource Center with Coastline Community College to help individuals become the most empowered version of themselves through six profiles: the storyteller, self-starter, navigator, organizer, advocate, and well-being.Through empowerment, participants will further cultivate a better sense of purpose, identity, and belonging in graduate school. |
workshop 03
Food for Thought
Facilitated by Renee Ya “Food for Thought” is to engage the participants to think about their environmental impacts to their life and how it may also impact reaching their higher education goals. This exercise seeks to create meaningful dialog between students in hopes that by sharing their thoughts their peers can relate to it. By allowing students to vocalize their feelings this helps others to empathize. Creating empathy for a person increases their interpersonal skills, creating deeper connections and a stronger community. This ultimately creates a networking opportunity that can last longer than just for the session of the workshop. By offering each person’s opinions, students are allowed the ability to digest each other’s food for thought. |