Mai Vang has spent her career fighting for the communities that raised her. The daughter of Hmong refugees and the oldest of 16 children, Mai was the first in her family to attend college, earning dual Master’s degrees from UCLA in Public Health and Asian American Studies.
When schools in her Sacramento neighborhood were threatened with closure, she co-founded Hmong Innovating Politics to organize parents and save them. On the Sacramento City USD school board, she made Ethnic Studies a graduation requirement and authored California’s first-ever Safe Haven Resolution to protect students and families regardless of immigration status. On the Sacramento City Council, Mai established the city’s first-ever Children’s Fund – dedicating $8–10 million annually to kids impacted by poverty, violence, and trauma – and secured over $40 million in public investments for neighborhoods across the city.
Mai knows what’s at stake because she’s lived it, and she’s built a record of delivering real results for working families.