Soua (they/she/nws) is a Hmong Asian queer nonbinary person and comes from a plethora of youth work non-profit experiences. They recently served as the Program Coordinator-Leadership with Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys, where they managed a group of volunteers to support Girl Scouts in achieving their Highest Awards projects, and also was in charge of the Girl Leadership Board to create older Girl Scout programming. Soua volunteered their time as a chaperone for Youth Leadership Initiative’s weekend retreats, where they once served as a weekly Cultural Coach, providing gender and sexuality programming to BIPOC high school students to discover their leadership skills and embrace their different identities.

 

In 2021, noticing the need to dive into conversations around identity, they planned and facilitated a fall retreat for Asian queer adults. The retreat consisted of team building activities, difficult and vulnerable conversations about their experiences as queer and Asian folks, and how they could pave the way for the future generations.

 

Soua was born and raised with 5 siblings by Hmong immigrant and refugee parents on the East Side of Saint Paul. They graduated from the University of MN with a BS in Youth Studies. In their free time, Soua loves going on hikes, eating good food with friends and family, traveling, and picking up a musical instrument.