Roseville, MN — Jouapag Lee wants to help Hmong people heal from intergenerational trauma and foster healthy family and community connections. Inspired by her upbringing as the oldest child of Hmong refugee parents, her work is focused on freeing her community from unjust systems of oppression and creating spaces that elevate collective wellbeing. After losing her own mother and grandmother, while becoming a mother herself, Jouapag took time to consider what true healing means. She became a founding member of the Hmong Healers Collective to share practices for healing within her community. Now, her vision for change is growing. She hopes to create a culturally grounded space for Hmong American millennials to learn the histories of oppression and trauma and explore what collective healing could look like in their community. She believes reaching millennials is key to bridge the gap between ancestral and modern healing. Through the Bush Fellowship, she will seek a trauma-informed coaching certificate, strengthen her written Hmong language skills, work with a coach to develop sustainable business practices and travel to Laos and Thailand to further connect with her Hmong roots.
