About Kou Lee

I am a Hmong American refugee to this country from Laos. My family and I were amidst the Vietnam War a.k.a. the Secret War in Laos, in which the communist revolutionaries were seeking and executing anyone including women and children who had fought alongside with the U.S. during the war. My father was left with two choices; stay and risk death for the entire family or flee in order to try and survive. He made the hard decision to leave everything behind including his land, livestock and almost every one of his earthly possessions to come to America. I am thankful for my parents, their courage and love.

I am indebted to public education and democracy. Without it, my entire life would not have been possible. I am committed to the vision that children in Green Bay Area Public schools are given the same opportunity as was given to me. Our children shall be given the choice to become high academic achievers, not just the rich, privileged and well-off kids whose parents can afford them a private education. There is so much at stake from our struggles to keep schools open to declining in enrollment. As a little boy, I have experienced the ups and downs of poverty living in a refugee camp, growing up in the inner city and struggling to adapt to the new American culture, while learning a new foreign language. I went on to become the first in my family to graduate from a Big Ten University (Michigan State University), enjoy a successful career, to owning a business, raising a family, owning a home and living the American Dream. I will bring this kind of passion, creativity and leadership to the GBAPS.