Message from our ED

A Message from our Executive Director

I would like to personally welcome you to our new website. For those of you who don’t know us, Hmong American Partnership (HAP) is the largest Hmong organization in Minnesota. Based in Saint Paul, HAP provides Hmong and other refugee communities with services and support to help them adjust to life in American and maximize available opportunities. Since its inception in 1990, Hmong American Partnership has steadily grown from offering just a few programs focused on providing refugee resettlement services to several hundred persons to becoming a full-fledged social service agency with programs serving several thousand community members each year.

Several months ago, we began the process of updating our online home. We took a comprehensive look at what was needed to make our site more accessible and informative. We listened to your suggestions, researched other successful websites, and now invite you to enjoy the many state-of-the-art improvements we have included in our site. Some of these are:

Easier navigation – get the information you want quickly and easily
Partner’s Page – a special page recognizing the contributions of our community partners
Mini-Surveys - from time to time, we’ll ask for your input and ideas

I am pleased to report that, in addition to updating our website, a great deal of very productive work has been accomplished during the past year. Some of this work includes:

Community Engagement

We completed a community engagement process in which we met with many HAP stakeholders, including: educators, public officials, health care organizations, economic development organizations, mental health providers, past participants, our Board, staff, and others. The conversations held during the community engagement process provided critical information that has helped us prioritize future initiatives and focus on what is important and needed for the community to succeed. What we learned will help HAP be more relevant and determine what resources are needed to provide holistic services to families that build and strengthen the community (click here for the report).

Strategic Plan 2008-2013

There is a saying that ‘those who fail to plan, plan to fail’. We realize the importance of planning and thinking strategically. I am therefore pleased to share with you that HAP’s strategic plan for 2008-2013 is now complete. Over the next five years, we are committed to:

• Developing a continuum of social, economic, and educational programs and

       opportunities for refugee and immigrant communities
     • Improving service delivery and impact of all HAP programs
     • Maximizing our resources through effective partnerships
     • Building and strengthening our organizational structure/infrastructure
     • Implementing a business model while focusing on people

New Mission & Vision

During strategic planning, HAP created new mission and vision statements that more accurately describes what Hmong American Partnership does and its future direction. Our mission is an energetic one, our vision perhaps even more so. We are excited about the limitless possibilities for HAP and for the people we serve (click here for our new Mission and Vision).

Operating Principles

Another critical organizational component that emerged during strategic planning was solidifying HAP’s values, or operating principles. The way we do our work and what we value as an organization can be described by the following five values: Integrity, Trust, Respect, Accountability and Excellence. Living and working by these values creates the type of organizational environment we all desire: an environment in which we exceed the expectations of our funders/customers and those of each other - where we don't just satisfy people, we wow them! Operating principles are our guiding light, our ethical roadmap to not just doing things well, but doing things right.

In closing, I want to thank HAP’s Board of Directors for enlisting their trust in me to run the day-to-day operations of this magnificent organization and for giving me the opportunity to make a difference in the Hmong community, about which I am so passionate. Although the challenges and obstacles that lie ahead are significant, I am confident that HAP will have many opportunities to flourish as a result of the dedication to our work and collective vision for a strong and thriving community.

Bao Vang