Lee Pao Xiong is currently the founding Director of the Center for Hmong and East Asian Studies at Concordia University, St. Paul and was an Assistant Professor of American Government/Political Science and Hmong Studies.

As a refugee from Laos at the early age of nine, his experiences at the intersection of war, poverty, race, and culture inform how he manages, leads, and innovates.

Lee Pao was the Director of Housing Policy and Development for the City of Minneapolis, President and CEO of The Urban Coalition, Executive Director of the State Council on Asian- Pacific Minnesotan, Hmong American Partnership, and the Hmong Youth Association of Minnesota. He has also served on the staff of Minnesota State Senator Joe Bertram and United States Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, in Washington, DC.

As an appointee of Minnesota Governor Jesses Ventura to the Metropolitan Council, a regional planning agency for the seven-county metropolitan area, from 1997 to 2003, Lee Pao represented the City of St. Paul, Lauderdale, and Falcon Heights. As a Councilmember, he chaired the Livable Communities Committee, the Audit Committee, and co-chaired of the Central Corridor Coordinating Committee, which proposed the light rail line on University Avenue, connecting the city of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

In 2000, President William Jefferson Clinton appointed Lee Pao Xiong to serve on the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders to advise the president and federal agencies on issues relating to the 10 million plus Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States, making him the first Hmong presidential appointee in the nation.

He is the founder of the Asian Economic Development Association (Formerly known as Asian Development Corporation), co-founder of the Hmong College Prep Academy, Community School of Excellence, the Dragon Boat Festival (formerly known as the Asian American Festival), the Hmong Resource Fair, the Sepak Takraw of USA, and the Museum of Hmong History and Culture. Currently, he is the Chair of the Hmong United Martial Arts Society, and a board member of the Ramsey County Historical Society, advisor to the Hmong Museum, and a member of the City of Fridley’s Chief of Police Advisory Committee. He previously also served as a member of the City of Fridley Mayor’s Budget Taskforce.

Lee Pao has won numerous awards for his services to the community. These include the Hmong American Day Scholar of the Year Award in 2016, Hmong College Prep Academy’s Leadership and Service Award in 2019, Hmong Chamber of Commerce Leadership Award in 2003, the State Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotan’s Asian-Pacific Leadership Award in 2001, the National Association for the Education and Advancement of Cambodian, Laotian and Vietnamese’s Outstanding Services Award in 2000, the Lao-Hmong American Coalition’s Leadership Award in 2000, the St. Paul Companies’ Leadership Initiatives in Neighborhoods award in 1997 and an inductee of the Como Park Senior High School Hall of Fame in 1999.

He was also a Fellow with the James P. Shannon Leadership Fellowship, The Bush Leadership Fellowship, the McKnight Fellowship, and the Okura Mental Health Leadership Foundation’s Fellowship.

Lee Pao received his Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the University of Minnesota and his Master of Arts degree in Public Administration from Hamline University. He completed his Doctorate in Public Administration coursework at Hamline University and is ABD.