LINDA LELIS-HER

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR [she/her/hers]

Linda Her is a writer-poet and community organizer, shaped by her lived experiences as a 2nd generation, Hmong American, queer-feminist. Linda was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, and lived in the Bay Area for 4 years during the beginning of her Hmong queer acceptance and journey for self-determination. She has 10 years of experience in activism and organizing at the intersections of gender and racial justice, non-partisan and partisan campaigns, and nonprofit work and funding.

She is the Executive Director of Asian American Organizing Project (AAOP), a grassroots organization focused on civic engagement and organizing, and mostly led by and for young Asian American, refugee and immigrants between 15 – 35 years old. The root of AAOP’s work is to transform a generation of young Asian Minnesotans’ (and their families) political consciousness and engagement through gender justice, civic and community leadership, and self-determination.

ZONG VUE

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR [she/her/hers]

Zong is a passionate community member who cares about social justice. She’s a mother of three ages 2, 14 and 16. She is a certified yoga instructor, enjoys practicing yoga, biking, hiking, jogging, weight lifting, and is a huge foodie. Her professional roots remain in St. Paul for the past 15 years in non-profit education, youth development, policy and evaluation. Zong is passionate about establishing new ways to disrupt the systems that perpetuate marginalized communities from advancing accessible education (Primary through Post-Secondary options), home ownership, reproductive rights, and civic engagement. She looks forward to navigating through this process with AAOP and supporting the operations of the team. 

XORR XIONG

ORGANIZING & PARTNERSHIP DIRECTOR [he/him/his]

Being a 1.5 generation immigrant and a mental health advocate, Vang Xor is at a unique intersection that enables me to bridge both worlds in a way that’s not commonly done before. That’s the vision that he sees himself working for; his dream is to push for an intentional movement of mental health acceptance within his community. Mental wellness check-in should be a regular choice of conversation. He also plans on expanding his work to open up opportunities for voices from other marginalized communities such as the AAPI queer.

TENZIN CHOESANG

STRATEGIC PROGRAM MANAGER [he/him/his]

Tenzin Choesang is a second generation Tibetan-American. He has a deep interest in East Asian politics and history, with a particular interest in the ongoing Sino-Tibet conflict. Tenzin graduated from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with a BA in Political Science and History, and received his Masters in Public Policy (MPP) from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. 

For around 5 years, Tenzin served as the President of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress of Minnesota, one of the largest Tibetan non-governmental organizations in Minnesota, advocating for the rights and freedoms of the Tibetans inside Tibet via political activism, advocacy/lobbying and raising awareness about the situation inside Tibet. During the weekends, he also teaches Tibetan music and dance to students of the Minnesota Tibetan Culture School. 

Outside of work Tenzin enjoys catching up on reading, a hobby he’s unfortunately neglected the past few years, mainly reading history-based/non-fiction books. As he mentioned, he also teaches Tibetan music and dance, so he also enjoys playing traditional Tibetan instruments, such as the Tibetan guitar, or dranyen (dra – sound, nyen – sweet/melodious).

MANISHA RAM

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT [she/her/hers]

Manisha (Misha) Ram. First generation of Cambodian & Guyanese. “Over the past few years I’ve tried to learn more about my identity and learn how to grow the flowers that are my community. I had originally grown up in a very diverse school and going to a PWI for my college years I learned how much I can stand out and what my actions as a POC & Ally can do for others. For so long I’ve made myself a bystander, a background character in my community that I felt myself not knowing anything about the Cambodian and Guyanse community.”

Outside of the AAOP office you’ll find Misha at concerts for various EDM artists, testing out brand new restaurants across the Twin Cities, or she’s also the complete opposite of being extroverted and can be a homebody and will rewatch series like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Stranger Things, Teen Wolf with her dog Caesar.

Favorite genre(s) of music? EDM & 2000’s R&B
Must read/watch? I’ve been rewatching any series by Mike Flanagan, my top 2 shows are “The Haunting of Hill House”&  “The Fall of the House of Usher” 
Favorite form of self-care? Going to concerts, in 2024 I went to 13 concerts or retail therapy