Introducing Our New Program VP: Pakou Hang

Hang is a longtime leader for solutions of, by, and for the community and has helped achieve powerful change in collaboration with many of the communities we serve.

When she joins our team on April 17 as program VP, Hang will lead our funding approach, guide our program staff, and collaborate with our grantees, staff, and board to support work toward long overdue change led by and for the communities we serve: Native Americans, communities of color, immigrants, refugees, and people in rural areas.

“We’re excited to welcome Pakou to our team,” says CEO Kevin Walker. “She’s a gifted leader with ground-level experience and a broad view of how change happens. She’s committed to justice to her core, and a thoughtful connector of people and ideas. I think she’ll help us imagine new possibilities in a time that demands more from philanthropy.”

Board chair Joyce Lee adds, “Pakou is adept at building relationships across diverse contexts and cultures. She understands how philanthropy can build deeper relationships with, and accountability for, the communities it serves. I look forward to her leadership and the perspectives she’ll bring to the Foundation.”

Her immigrant upbringing sparked a passion for uplifting others.

Building the power of people and communities and advancing opportunity for others isn’t just a professional focus for Hang—it’s her life’s mission.

She was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. When she was just 15 days old, her family immigrated to the US as political refugees. She’s personally experienced discrimination and her story is deeply rooted in resilience and determination. She has a strong connection to rural places, farming, food justice, and stories about leaving or coming home.

Her lived experiences have given her a sense of purpose and direction. Over the years, she has inspired action and collaborated with diverse stakeholders—community members, philanthropic partners, nonprofits, government agencies, and more— to achieve meaningful changes to systems in ways that support the efforts of communities overcoming a long history of injustice.

She says, “In many ways, I’m a community organizer at heart. When I see a problem, I try to go to those most affected, listen, and work with them to find and test out solutions. Along the way, I hope to help people build their own power and become their own best advocates.”

She combines a deep understanding of the grantmaking process with hands-on fieldwork.

Hang is best known as a founding member and past executive director of the nonprofit Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA), where she emerged as a state and national thought leader on issues of land access, food justice, equity in the food and farming movement, and the rise of cooperatives as a community wealth-building model.

You could say her career has come full circle. In the early days of HAFA, she was a Foundation grantee. Now, years after leading a grantee partner organization, she’ll be coming in to lead the team that works on our grantmaking activities and program-related investment portfolio.

“I’ve worked with Pakou as a grantee partner for many years and as a colleague addressing community wealth building and food systems. She brings a perspective to the Foundation from both sides of the funding process,” says Karla Miller, who is retiring as program VP at the end of April after 23 years with the Foundation.

“Her insights and creativity will enhance the Foundation’s approach to advancing racial, social, and economic justice.”

Hang brings a vision to our work steeped in diverse leadership experiences.

Most recently, Hang was a consultant to Equitable Food-Oriented Development (EFOD) and Wallace Center at Winrock International on food and farming initiatives for diverse communities, and she was a fund manager for Powering a New Economy Fund. She was also instrumental in launching the Growing Justice Fund, where she remains an advisory board member.

In these, and many roles, Hang has led work at the state and federal levels to advance the interests of our priority communities so they might overcome injustice and thrive alongside all American communities.

In addition, she’s had numerous career and community service roles with a through line of fighting for democracy, an area that aligns well with our values.

Honoring the past and looking forward to the future.

As Hang begins this next step in her career, she feels it’s important to recognize and honor the leaders who have gone before her, like Karla Miller.

“Over the past 20 years, Karla’s voice has profoundly shaped how the Foundation has shown up for the community,” says Hang. “Her focus on humility, cooperation, and justice has been steadfast. I plan to carry this work forward in that same spirit, staying grounded in community-building while adding my own lived experiences and a sense of curiosity and empathy.

“I understand the perils and perspectives of grantees because I have been in their shoes. Working for the Northwest Area Foundation is a dream come true for me.”