KaYing is a social justice advocate who has built and led community development efforts nationally and globally. Between 2004 and 2013 she lived and worked with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Thailand managing the cultural orientation program for refugees who were being resettled to the US and other countries. In Laos, she worked for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group where she managed projects to improve the business environment for local and international investors. Today, she is the policy director for the Coalition of Asian American Leaders - CAAL.

KaYing’s passion to end gender-based violence and creating gender equity has led her to work with Hmong women internationally to build a movement among the Southeast Asian refugee and immigrant diaspora. Related to this work, in 2008 she founded the first Hmong woman’s organization in Laos to help women and girls access educational and economic opportunities. She also co-founded and serves as President of RedGreen Rivers (www.redgreenrivers.com), a social enterprise working with women and girls in the Mekong Region to bring their handcrafted products to a global market.