Meet Our Team
Annie Lee
Co-Founder & CEO, Regional Director - Pacific North West
Annie is passionate about helping women rediscover who they are, redefine who they want to be and intentionally create a personal brand to inspire actions. She guides women in developing a supportive mindset and attitude that gives them a sense of confidence to go out there to create a life and business they love. She believes that a life well lived is one that is intentional and fulfilled with love, passion, authenticity, and purpose.
• Annie is also a Branding and Marketing Coach where she helps rising entrepreneurs create an admired brand and strategically position themselves as a person of influence online.
• Annie has hosted 2 Hmong Women Retreats and facilitated multiple workshops on personal empowerment and self-identity
• She has over 12 years of experience as a Counselor working with stressed foster youths where she helps them develop positive self- esteem.
• When she’s not working, she enjoys quality time with her husband and 3 children in Manteca, CA. She also loves to travel, immerse with nature and hike to high grounds.
To learn more about Annie Lee, go to www.AnnieLeeInc.com
Choua Step Vang
Co-Founder & Strategic Advisor
Choua is a visionary Leader with a track record of building high-performance teams in large, complex Fortune 500 organizations. She has 15 years of progressive experience delivering effective technology strategies and IT governance solutions in healthcare disciplines. She is currently a Principal Consultant at Synermatix Solutions Inc, a strategy and solutions firm, based in Long Beach California.
Choua is a firm believer that every person possesses a unique gift and has the capacity to manifest their gift into a vision of success by one’s own definition and is committed to working with other women towards cultivating a life of passion, balance, and rewards. Becoming a wife and mother at a young age, she has harnessed the strength and courage to take on various challenges and turning them into powerful life lessons.
Choua’s Personal message:
Life will present many adversaries, but it’s these very adversaries that define our strength and outlook. Every moment is a lesson or a gift. You can take it and make positive impactful decisions from it, or you can let it consume you and deter you from something that could have become the very thing you were meant to do. Mark Twain says, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” — It excites me when I get to take part and witness the moment a person discover their “why”.
Of all the roles Choua has taken on in her lifetime, the one she takes most pride and enjoyment in is her role as a mother of 4. She truly believes and live by:
“Parents need to fill their child’s bucket of self-esteem so high that the world can’t poke enough holes to drain it dry.”
~Alvin Price
Pang Foua Xiong
Regional Director - Twin Cities Network
Pang is a Hmong woman who wears many hats. She is a mother, daughter, sister, mentor, friend and entrepreneur/professional.
Pang previously dedicated over a decade of time and service, holding and growing in several roles, in the health care field at a community clinic in part of the University of Minnesota Academic Health Care Centers. After 11 years in service, she chose to devote her life intentionally in raising her children; And strengthening and creating a positive community for her family, our community of women and our youth.
In her most recent venture, she is living the life of an entrepreneur as a beauty therapist- with a specialty in eyelash extensions.
She is also a keeper of the traditions and is currently an active artist working on projects in the Hmong community to preserve the culture and art of the community through her artist production company- Red Strings Artistry.
Pang believes holistic wellness and practicing self-awareness, love and healing. She believes that ordinary people can do extraordinary things and have extraordinary experiences. She dedicates her time and energy to teach and guide others to become conscious, to discover and to become aware of their true ability and purpose. So that they can live a more purposeful life and be fully aware of their true identity.
Pang currently resides in Saint Paul, MN with her husband and five children.
Stacey Lo
Regional Director - Northern California Network
Tonnah Her
Regional Director - Fresno California
Tonnah Her is a Real Estate Agent and is the CEO at Realty Planet serving in the Fresno, CA area.
Tonnah is an incredible role model for women who want to learn how to balance life and responsibilities. Tonnah comes from a large family of 14 siblings plus 21 adopted. She is married into a family with multiple wives and 22 children. Her side of the family is modern and of the Christian faith while her husband’s side is still very traditional and practicing shamanism. With all these differences among her family, Tonnah is able to live harmoniously with everyone, and is highly loved and respected by her family and in-laws.
Hmong Women Today creates opportunities for women to grow, lead and shine.
Since our launch in 2012, HWT has offered all of our events and services for free to the community (with the exception of the women retreat). We are not a nonprofit organization and we don’t have any grants or revenue. Nonetheless, HWT is able to fulfill its mission due to the support of families, friends and generous donors from our community. For this spirit, we invite you to be a champion for Hmong women by making a donation to help sustain our programs and events. We welcome all donation levels and thank you, in advance, for your contribution.