A little about us

Yang Wang Meng Association of Minnesota, Incorporated, (YWMA MN, Inc.) is a volunteer only nonprofit. It is a nationally known Hmong organization that was established in 1985 as a Hmong family clan organization to provide resources and leadership for Hmong refugees facing the assimilation challenges of the American society. The Hmong allied with the United States and its interest in a “Secret War” in Laos during the Vietnam War conflict in Southeast Asia. The influx of Hmong refugees to the United States and other western countries at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 was a direct result of this conflict.

The Hmong came from an agrarian culture, living peacefully and isolated from the dominant groups in Southeast Asia. They are a minority group in every country that they have lived and continued to live in, and at times subjected to the oppression of the dominant groups. They were in the past labeled as uneducated, barbaric, and unassimilable to the American society, but many were able to assimilate and became contributing members of the American society. However, not everyone succeeded by this assimilation. This assimilation also came at a dire cost - the rapid deterioration of the Hmong culture and identity.

As the older generations slowly disappear, the younger generations are struggling to understand who they are, where they came from, and where they are going. They are conflicted, confused, and struggled between the more progressive ideal of individualism and the cultural demand of collectivism. On the other hand, the older generations are struggling to understand why the younger generations are not responding to cultural practices and history. The clash of the generations and the two different societies have resulted in the ever changing needs of the Hmong community. YWMA MN, Inc. became incorporated in 2012 as a nonprofit to help address these needs through adapting and integrating aspects of the culture and tradition with education, job and skill training, employment, family strengthening, women leadership, mental health, and access to healthcare and housing.

In 2024, a new leadership team with a progressive integrated vision was elected to lead YWMA MN, Inc. This new leadership team is endeavored to help the disadvantaged members of the Hmong community create wealth to become self-sufficient and contributing members of the mainstream society while still maintaining their Hmong identity and also be Americans.