Hmong American Partnership based in St. Paul selects new CEO and president

Sep. 23—Hmong American Partnership, a St. Paul-based nonprofit and one of the largest Hmong organizations in the world, has appointed a new president and chief executive officer.

Based on input from a search committee composed of community members, board members and representatives of partner organizations, the HAP board has selected May yer Thao, the assistant deputy director of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, which is based in Madison. Thao grew up in St. Paul and has lived in Wisconsin for more than a decade.

She served as the executive director of the Hmong Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce in Milwaukee from 2015 to 2019, and prior to that as a grants administrator for five years with the Medical College of Wisconsin. She was previously a consultant and interpreter with the Moua Consulting Group and a coordinator of Hmong student groups with the Girl Scout Council of St. Croix Valley.

She holds an undergraduate degree in American Studies from the University of Minnesota. After college, she supported development efforts and entrepreneurial trainings in high-poverty areas of Thailand for a year through the U.S. Peace Corps, and later taught weekly cultural orientation sessions to Hmong refugees in Thailand who planned to resettle in the U.S., working with some 1,500 refugees in ten months, according to her resume.

HAP, which operates on a $12.5 million budget, provides job training, homeownership counseling and more than 40 additional social services to the Twin Cities Hmong community, as well as other recent immigrants.

Thao is scheduled to join HAP on Oct. 11, replacing Jodie Tanaka, who has served as the interim executive director since Feb. 1. Longtime president and CEO Bao Vang stepped down in January.