| Yer Vang Portrait of a Hmong woman as a lawyer |
| By Laura Salinger |
| One of Yer Vang's earliest memories is of snow. At the tender age of four, she remembers seeing "white stuff" all over the ground as her mother and eight of her siblings stepped off a plane from Thailand into an Iowan winter. "My earliest memory is when we first landed in the United States," Vang said. "I remember being very enthralled." What she doesn't remember, is spending the first four years of her life in a Thai refugee camp. They are memories of hardship that were lost to a young mind. But, she still has her family's stories and a future ripe with opportunity as a young and vibrant lawyer in Madison, Wis. Yer Vang's parents were well respected in their Laotian village where they were farmers. Vang's father was an unofficial leader of the village where he acted as a mediator and helped resolve disputes among village occupants. Their life was uprooted, however, when a communist movement took over leadership in Laos and began persecuting Hmong communities. |
| "My family, along with many other families, fled to Thailand to avoid persecution," Vang said. As the youngest of 12 children, Vang was the only one actually born in the refugee camp. Although she has her siblings stories to shed light on the beginning years of her life, she does not remember her experience at the NongKhai refugee camp in northeast Thailand. What Vang remembers is starting a new life in the United States. Fed up with the living conditions at the refugee camp, Vang's mother decided to take eight of her children to a new country in the hopes of improving their living conditions and opportunities for the future. Against her husband's wishes, Vang's mother left Thailand and sought out a new life. "My dad did not want to come to the U.S.," Vang said. "My mother was very courageous and came anyway." The family was sponsored by Vang's older brother and a church in Decorah, Iowa. They landed there in the dead of winter and set out to start a new life. Their new life, however, was not without challenges. "My mom had to raise eight kids in a new country with no language skills and no professional skills," Vang said. Still, her mother and the children endured. It is trait that Vang has witnessed in other Hmong families. "The thing I have noticed with the Hmong population is that they are very resilient and they adapt well." The family eventually moved to La Crosse, Wis. where they had extended family and the city touted a larger Hmong community. As the youngest, Vang was able to begin her education in the United States as kindergartner. Her siblings faced the daunting task of starting school in older grades where they faced increased linguistical and cultural barriers. "I think I was very fortunate when I compare my story with my other siblings," Vang said. "We all had our own difficulties adjusting, but I had more opportunities than my siblings." Vang says she had a strong role model in her mother who strongly encouraged education and independence among her children despite cultural values that encouraged young women to marry young. "She did not encourage any of her girls to marry young," Vang said. "In fact, she did the opposite. She instilled in me the value of education and hard work." |
| Vang's mother passed away when she was just seventeen, but she left a legacy in Vang. Although she had to grow up fast after her mother died, Vang was determined to get a college education. Initially, she sought out a career as teacher. In Laos, teachers are highly respected and Vang's mother encouraged her children to obtain teaching degrees. Vang attended two years of undergraduate school at Luther College in Decorah. She was drawn their by her fond memories of living there as a young child. The small, private college, however, did not offer the diverse and global environment that Vang found she desired in a college. She transferred to UW-Madison and continued her path to becoming a teacher. When Vang befriended a young law student, her educational path changed. She went on to attend law school at UW-Madison and now at the age of 31, she has made quite a name for herself in the community. Vang is not your typical lawyer and she never wanted to be. |
| "I knew right away that I wanted to do public interest law and social justice law," Vang said. "I did not want to do typical corporate law." Vang's first job out of law school was as an immigration attorney for the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence (WCADV) where she provided legal assistance and information to programs dealing with victims of domestic abuse. These programs often dealt with immigrants who faced additional challenges above and beyond the already horrendous challenges related to domestic abuse. Vang also conducted statewide training on immigration law, domestic abuse law, and poverty law. Her experience as a Hmong immigrant, she said, enabled her to meet her job duties with compassion and understanding. "Just being a battered woman is hard enough in itself," she said. "Being an immigrant compounds the situation. I can speak from experience as an immigrant and can understand the layers of barriers [that immigrants face]." |
| After three years at WCADV, Vang took a job with the Immigrant Project of Wisconsin, an organization that provides pro-bono services to immigrant victims of domestic abuse. Vang dealt with a number of cases where women not only faced the fear of abuse, but the fear that their immigrant status might affect their rights. The abusers often used this status as another form of control. Vang ensured that these women learned their rights and were able to exercise them under the due process of law. |
| While Vang has been passionate about working with domestic abuse survivors, she is now moving on to a new job. In mid-August she will begin work as the executive assistant to the director of the Office of State Employment Relations (OSER). OSER is responsible for helping to create and enforce the labor standards and affirmative action policies that affect Wisconsin's employees. In short, OSER is referred to as the human resources department for the state of Wisconsin. While Vang sets out on a new career path, continues to keep herself busy with the numerous outside organizations that she contributes to. She currently sits on the board of the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar Association and is the president and co-founder of the Wisconsin Asian Bar Association, a growing organization that provides social and professional development opportunities for Asian and non-Asian attorneys in Wisconsin. She also sits on the board of the Hmong American Women's Association, an organization based in Milwaukee that works to unite Hmong women and provide them with educational and social opportunities. At the age of 31, Vang has already made quite a name for herself as a community activist and an attorney with a heart for social betterment and change. |
 |
 |
| Yer Vang says she's luckier than her siblings who were older than her when they came to the U.S. because she adapted easily to the American society. |