LANA 🇱🇦

Board Member Highlight: Arlene Markthepharack. Arlene has served on the LANA Board of Directors since 2015. She currently works for Bank of America and is serving as an AAPI Community Commissioner for Clark County of Nevada. She loves to travel and experience different cultures but nothing compares to eating Lao food. In the upcoming months, she’s looking forward to amplifying and uplifting the Laotian American experience while connecting and uniting our communities across the country. @arlene_markthepharack , thank you for all that you do! You’re a rock star! 😎

Ohio State Senator @tinamaharath is one of the very few (if not only) Laotian Americans serving in a state legislature in the country. We are so proud to have her and the good work she is doing to push for AAPI history into the OH curriculum. #RepresentationMatters #LeadershipMatters #ValuesMatter #education #visibility #collaboration Link to article here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna2671#click=https://t.co/y8Ok7SeKC8

Thanks @laos_angeles for highlighting our Board Chair Vimala! Posted @withregram • @laos_angeles #LaosAngelesShine featuring Vimala Phongsavanh @vimalap ——————— Where do you live? Since the pandemic, I’ve been working remotely and living in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. ——————— Where is your family from? My mom is from Vientiane, dad is from Luang Prabang, and my older sister was born in Vientiane and raised in Rhode Island. ——————— What is your occupation now? I’m a public servant. I started my career as a youth organizer; I was the first Laotian American elected to a school board in the country; I’ve organized for policy wins at all levels of government; and now, I currently serve as the Organizing Director at the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center in Washington, DC. ——————— What do you aspire to? I aspire to be a master of my art – politics. Politics is the art of power, every day I get to think about how we build power to create a more just, equitable, and resilient world. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, and most of the time it’s messy. Every – policy, idea, email, spreadsheet, hearing, meeting, speech, team, campaign – is all part of creating a collective masterpiece where the end product is the world that we want to live in. I aspire to co-create with all of the amazing Lao and Laotian folks out there to build power for our communities. We’ve got so much political power that we need to tap into. ——————— What would you like to recommend to the people? Hope is a discipline that we need to practice every day, there’s so much going on in the world that it can seem overwhelming, but we need to keep believing that a better world is possible. Also, stay humble, don’t take yourself too seriously, and surround yourself with people who keep you grounded. ——————— What other self-identified Laotian person should we know about and why? The amazing team at @lanausaorg, check out the amazing work we are doing My forever mentor Dr. Phitsamay Uy @funfriendsnfood My karaoke enthusiast @inthaleena, @catzuella, @c_rokmore

We had a super engaging and inspiring group join us last night on the Laotian monthly community call. We heard from special guests from the Oregon Iu-Mien Community, the Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota, and APIAVote, as well as some additional community members. Thank you all for your participation! Look out for our wrap-up email coming soon with all the notes, especially on important legislative updates. (DM us to be added to our google list serve so you don’t miss anything!) Save the date for our next call on Tuesday, October 26 at 8pmEST/7pmCT/5pmPST!

Our Board Chair, Vimala, has been organizing for policy wins at the local, state and national level for almost 15 years. We're so lucky that she's bringing her relationship building skills and transformative organizing philosophy to LANA. This weekend, she spent some time in New York meeting amazing Lao people including, former Board Member Maddy, LANA supporter April, and @tuktukbox (not pictured 🤣). Read more about transformative organizing here: https://leftroots.net/demand-everything-lessons-of-the-transformative-organizing-model/

After taking some rest in September the LANA team is back. Find a team that inspires you to change the world!

Join us for our next Laotian Community Call on Tuesday, September 28 at 8 PM ET | 5 PM PT. Meet our new staffer, Senior Fellow Stacey, and our special guests from Oregon lu Mien Community, Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota, and APIAVote. Hear about organizational and legislative updates, and share what you’ve been working on. RSVP at the link in our bio. Can’t wait to see you on Zoom!

Welcome LANA’s Senior Fellow Stacey Phommatheth! She is a native of Johnston, Rhode Island and has spent her career in nonprofit management and public service. As LANA's Senior Fellow, Stacey will serve as a full-time staff member, managing and overseeing all aspects of the organization's programs including partnerships and collaborations, and she will work closely with LANA's Board Chair. Stacey spent her early career at the Center for Southeast Asians working directly with the Southeast Asian community of Rhode Island. In her role as a program coordinator, she helped thousands of clients file their taxes for free through the VITA program, she served as an ACA navigator to help clients apply for affordable health care, she worked to get resources for victims of violence through VAWA, and she managed the asset development program to provide clients with financial literacy and foreclosure prevention. In her most recent position as advancement associate at Federal Hill House, she provided support to the executive director on fund development, operations and communications. She previously served as the human resources and business assistant, and was the organization's VITA outreach coordinator. One of Stacey’s favorite programs to manage was the teen workforce development program because it was an opportunity to help prepare youth to thrive. Stacey graduated from Providence College with a Bachelor of Science in Biology, and currently serves on the Board of Directors at Connecting for Children and Families. #education #visibility #collaboration

Lao people are everywhere! Our Board Chair (Vimala) and super volunteer (Nina) finally meet up in real life after a year organizing together on Zoom! #laoamerican #laotianamerican

Have you downloaded the Laotian Business Directory yet? It’s an easy to use one-stop-shop for finding Lao and Laotian owned businesses and organizations. It’s available on iOS at the App Store! Type in “Laotian Business Directory” and you should see it! Let us know what you think of it. #LaotianAmerican #LaoAmerican #education #visibility #collaboration #ShopSmall #ShopLocal

On this Labor Day, we honor immigrant essential workers who have more than earned a path to citizenship after aiding in the pandemic recovery and have proven key to our nation’s infrastructure. #LaborDay #WeAreHome

We loved the energy from last night’s community call! Thank you to our guest speakers: @lacfresno @sabaideeatlanta @legaciesofwar @apaics_org & special birthday shoutout to @djmissjoymusic 🥳 If you missed it & want to receive our wrap-up email please DM us to be added to our google listserv. Our next call will be September 28 at 8pmET/5pmPT, hope to see you there!