Women in the Lead 2021

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I N S P I R I N G T H E N E X T G E N E R AT I O N First hmong principal in U.S. extends passion for Others beyond the classroom words by

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t the height of the Vietnam War, a family of five fled from Long Tieng, Laos, to Thailand in the middle of the night. The father, a captain of the Royal Lao Army, had fought on behalf of Americans and applied for asylum in the United States.

Kaying Xiong was only 6 years old when she entered the Eau Claire Public School system after moving from Chicago in 1981 to Eau Claire, while her father sought an education at what is now known an Chippewa Valley Technical College to pursue a higher-level career.

Immediately, Xiong and her family looked for ways to make connections, as there were very few Hmong families in the area.

“Any Hmong family would provide comfort and provide a level of security that we were so yearning

reonna huettner • photo by andrea paulseth

for because we didn’t have any other family,” Xiong said.

Xiong eventually graduated from Memorial High School, and attended UW-Eau Claire for her teaching degree. Throughout her educational experience, she and her siblings felt that school was a safe place and that they could trust the teachers who were taking time to listen to their needs outside of the classroom.

“They supported us socially and emotionally,” she said.

After graduation, Xiong accepted a position as a second-grade teacher. Over time, she transitioned to being an English as a Second Language instructor while pursuing an advanced degree at UW-Superior in their Educational Administration Leadership program.

In 2001, Xiong made history by becoming the first Hmong principal

“I AM JU ST SO PASSI O NATE A BO U T MA K ING S U R E T HAT WE AS ADU LTS ARE THE R E FO R E VE R Y C H ILD. AN D I M EAN EVERY CHI LD.” – K AY I N G X I O N G,

ECASD DIRECTOR OF STUDENT SERVICES

in the United States – at least, as far as she knows. “Nobody has ever refuted (it),” Xiong said with a smile.

She was a principal at Eau Claire’s Locust Lane Elementary for 15 years, then went on to work on her doctorate in Educational Leadership through Hamline University, graduating in 2016.

Xiong now serves as director of student services for the Eau Claire Area School District, where she went from impacting 300 students in one building to impacting all 11,400 students in all 20 buildings run by the ECASD. Her goal is to provide the best possible services to keep students on track for the best educational experience possible – no matter how hard that may be.

“There’s a solution for every student, no matter where they’re at academically, socially, emotionally, or behaviorally,” she said. “(We just need) to figure out that solution for every child.”

A part of that solution starts with leadership in the district.

And Xiong expressed the importance of what that leadership looks like and as a woman of color, she believes her work will have an impact long after she steps away from her position. The footprint

she leaves behind, she hopes, will continue to support students – especially students of color and young women.

Xiong wants to continue finding educational strategies that will work to support the social and emotional needs of children throughout the district. “We have a great academic system, but if we aren’t there emotionally or socially, then they aren’t there for us to use the academic system,” Xiong said.

Change, especially large change within an even larger system, takes time, but she looks forward to watching it all unfold in the years to come. “I feel like I am in a good place with the work that I do because I am just so passionate about making sure that we as adults are there for every child,” she said, “and I mean every child.”

Xiong hopes that students remember the district as a place that cares about them as a person first, then a student second. “It’s rarely about what is learned,” Xiong said, “but how the adults in their lives make them feel.”

A child’s experience in the district shapes who they will become and how they will impact the world.

As Xiong said: change takes time, but it starts with this generation.

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U N WAV E R I N G VOICE Col l een c oun ty

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olleen Bates’ first brush with local politics came more than 40 years ago when she became active in an effort to save Mount Washington Elementary School from closure.

Her neighborhood-level activism caught the eye of local leaders, including David Duax, then chairman of the Eau Claire County Board.

He asked her to consider running for an open county board seat. At the time, Bates was working fulltime while also raising seven children, and she wondered if she had the time to serve in public office.

As she pondered, however, she got a call from the outgoing county board representative in her district telling her that she didn’t have to run because he had found someone to do so. Ironically, this sealed her decision to seek public office.

Apparently, telling Colleen Bates that she shouldn’t do something is a bad idea.

“I thought ‘what?’ ” she recalls with a laugh, “and decided that basically I had something I could offer,

and decided to run.”

She was elected to the board in the spring of 1983, and has served continuously since then. At the time, she was one of only three women on the 29-member board.

(Today, there are 15.)

Over nearly four decades, Bates has maintained a dedication to the county and the programs it provides to people, particularly in the area of human services. Her understanding of the challenges many of our neighbors face came from personal experience: For years, she worked in the office of her husband, the late Dr. Patrick Bates, an independent family physician in downtown Eau Claire.

“You recognized the difference between individuals who had good health coverage and those that did not,” she recalled. “It wasn’t difficult to see the connection, as I came onto the county board, between individuals who really had access to services and what happened to those who did not.”

Bates said she has paired her

dedication to human services programs, which help people when they are struggling significantly, with working on County Extension efforts to proactively create educational programs.

“It isn’t just knowing those (problems) exist, it’s a question of saying to yourself, ‘We have to do better,’ ” Bates explained.

Earlier this fall, Bates was honored with the “Friend in County Government” award by the Wisconsin Counties Association, that group’s highest honor. In addi-

tion to being first vice chair of the Eau Claire County Board, Bates has served on the WCA board of directors and is president of the Wisconsin Extension Association.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg of Bates’ decades of service to the people of the Chippewa Valley and beyond – especially those who cannot speak up for themselves.

“I’m always going to be an advocate for individuals that I think need a voice,” Bates said. “The county board gave me that opportunity, and I’m very grateful for it.”

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S TA N D I N G O U T IN STEM UW EC

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denise olson / uw-eau claire integrated marketing & communications

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t’s not unusual for Blugold alumni around the U.S. and the globe to be recognized for major accomplishments in their fields.

Yet some alumni success stories stand out – literally, like a big orange statue.

Beatris Mendez Gandica, a 2013 UW-Eau Claire information systems and international business graduate, is a security program manager at Microsoft and CEO and founder of the Nuevo Foundation.

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She recently was chosen as one of 125 women ambassadors of STEM in the U.S. to be immortalized in a display of life-sized 3D statues for the “IF/THEN” campaign from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Currently on display in Dallas, Texas, the “IF/THEN” exhibit is the largest-ever collection of women’s statues assembled in one location at one time. The 3D orange statues represent contemporary role models

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ABOVE, LEFT: The life-sized statue of Beatris Mendez Gandica, one of 125 women in STEM honored by the “IF/THEN” campaign. ABOVE, RIGHT: The process of creating the life-sized “IF/THEN” statues involved each model posing in this special photo booth which captured their 3D likeness for the printer. in STEM from a wide range of industries including business, education, entertainment, and engineering.

Mendez Gandica, who received an Outstanding Recent Alumnus Award from the UWEC Alumni Association in 2019, established the Nuevo Foundation in 2018 with a mission to prepare underrepresent-

ed minority youth to become leaders through discovering STEM. “I discovered computers at age 10 and coding as a freshman in college,” she says. “Realizing that underrepresented students weren’t being exposed to STEM or coding role models, I started Nuevo Foundation to teach young students

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to code. I want more kids to have opportunities in technology and follow their passions.”

As of late summer, the Nuevo Foundation has offered coding and other tech classes to more than 10,000 children in 31 countries and Puerto Rico. In reflection of this work, Mendez Gandica received the 2019 Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility’s Young Hispanic Corporate Achievers’ 40 under 40 Award, each recognized for leadership in their communities and their corporations.

Mendez Gandica is based in Seattle and is currently working remotely from Berlin, Germany. She

will be traveling to Dallas later this month to visit the “IF/THEN” exhibit before it concludes at the end of October, at which time the statues will be off to various smaller-scale installations around the country.

“I have many plans this month in recognition of Latinx Heritage Month, and it will be wonderful to visit the exhibit at this special time. Out of all 125 statue models, seven of us are Latinas, and 20 of us are in computer science,” she says, adding her hopes that everyone who visits the “IF/THEN” statues in Dallas or somewhere else will seize the moment to honor women role models.

“If you happen to see one of the orange statues, please take a picture with it. It’s not often that you will stumble across a statue of a woman.”

Mendez Gandica stays in contact with several UWEC faculty members, keeping them updated on her career and exciting news like the statue exhibit. One of her former professors, Dr. Judy René Sims, professor emerita of communication and journalism, was thrilled and not at all surprised when Mendez Gandica shared this honor with her.

“Bea has been using her education and voice to empower young women to change the world through achievements in STEM,” Sims says.

“She is a leader and an unstoppable force who believes that young women can and will create great things in the future through science and technology.”

As for her own interpretation of being seen as a national role model, Mendez Gandica is humbled and fulfilled by seeing that her work is bringing impressive results.

“It’s crazy to think that someone like me could become a model for an exhibit honoring women in STEM, but it’s proof that STEM is for everyone, not just a few. I am passionate about teaching coding to kids and showing them that anything is possible.”

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B O N H O M I E, B O N S P I E L S, A N D B R O O M S TA C K I N G !

E.C. Curling Club aims to recruit more women curlers, relaunch women's league words by

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urling is an inclusive sport that makes room for people of all ages and abilities.

And amid the camaraderie and respect that typifies this centuries-old sport, the Eau Claire Curling Club stands out for its dedication to encouraging new players and ensuring that everyone interested in playing gets a chance to try different positions on a team. The Club’s nationally renowned ice sheets make it a fantastic venue for all levels of competition.

Teams consist of four players, each with a specific role, and the club has been actively recruiting new members – reaching out specifically to women in the hopes of restarting its women’s league, which has been on a hiatus since 2010. A league needs 24 players in order to take part in a season. Right now, women members of the club play in mixed, recreational leagues. During the season, there are league competitions every evening. The level of competitiveness varies and includes a number of recreational leagues. The season runs from October to March.

Enthusiasts say that curling is a great way to get exercise amongst close friends. And if

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keely khoury • photo by andrea paulseth

you’re new to the sport, it’s a great way to make friends.

Curling competitions are called bonspiels, and the highly anticipated sharing of food and drink after each match is called broomstacking. As part of the sport’s unwritten rules of etiquette, once a match ends, the two teams sit down together at a round table to share a meal. That friendship is largely why bonspiels have the reputation they do – for being lots of fun!

Lisa Canaday, the Tuesday league convener, says that the sport includes a number of different techniques that make it possible to accommodate people with a range of physical abilities and prior curling experience. She encourages everyone to give it a try.

What does Canaday enjoy most about curling? “The mix of strategy, science, and exercise,” she said. “And, of course, broomstacking!”

The ECCC doesn’t have a waiting list, and league conveners will find ways to make sure that anyone interested in playing gets time on the ice. In November, the Club will host the Junior National Championships.

More information can be found at curlingclub.com.

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100 WOMEN WHO CARE IN EAU CLAIRE W omen - run organiz at io n s upports l oca l n o np r o f it s words by

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justine childs

n 2006, Karen Dunigan of Jackson, Michigan, saw a need for baby cribs in her community.

She thought to ask 10 friends for $1,000 to donate cribs to those who needed them, but then thought asking 100 women for $100 would probably be a little bit easier. The initial 100 women raised $12,800 in less than an hour, and the alliance has grown to more than 650 operational chapters to date.

Pam Haller became aware of the program in other communities and saw an opportunity to help nonprofits in the Chippewa Valley. She hoped to have 100 women come to the first meeting, and 120 came.

Nonprofit applicants, who are nominated by members of the chapter, must serve Chippewa, Dunn, or Eau Claire counties and have 501(c)(3) status. Three applicants are chosen to attend each quarterly meetings to share background information on their organizations, the needs they have, and what they would do with donated funds. One nonprofit is chosen and presented with checks from the members – each written for $100. Currently, there are 200 women involved in the local chapter.

Mickey Judkins, owner of Details

on Water Street, has been a member since the Eau Claire chapter’s genesis in May 2018. “As we strengthen the services offered, we strengthen the community,” she said.

The chapter has proven to be an efficient and powerful way to raise funds in just one meeting; netting $20,000 to 30,000 at every gathering is a “game changing (amount of ) money for many groups,” Judkins said.

The chapter has helped 12 nonprofits to date, but more importantly they have exposed the group to many more in the area.

“I’m in incredibly proud of the work this group has done,” Haller said. “This group of women reminds me if we come together and work as one for the betterment of our community, we will live in a community that we are proud to be a part of.”

Members are asked to commit to one year, comprising four total meetings, and donate $100 each meeting. One woman with $100 can make a small change, but 200 women with $100 each can make a significant change.

If you are interested in joining 100 Women Who Care, visit their Facebook page “100 Women Who Care Eau Claire.”

"AS WE STRENG THEN THE SER VIC E S O FFE R E D, WE S TR ENG THEN THE CO M M U NITY. " – MICKEY JUDKINS, MEMBER, 100 WOMEN WHO CARE EAU CLAIRE

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O R C H E S T R AT I N G N E W S O U N D S Chi ppew a

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ydia Park admits she didn’t see herself becoming the conductor of a youth symphony orchestra when she began her music career 20 years ago. Granted, when you’re 10, those aspirations align closer to astronaut or president of the United States.

No big deal.

And yet, Park is the first female director of the Chippewa Valley Youth Symphony, an organization that celebrates its 40th birthday this year. In that time, no woman has ever graced the podium. Until now.

Born and raised in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Park got her first taste of orchestral life early on. She remembers becoming enamored with the cello when she was 8 years old, joining her first orchestra soon after.

“I started at the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra when I was 11 or 12,” Park said. “When I was there, it was still developing, but it is now one of the biggest ones in the country.”

Indeed, according to the MYSO website, they currently have 1,000

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ALL ART IS AMAZING. EVERYBODY SHOULD BE INVO L VE D IN ( A N) A R T. BU T I TH INK TH A T MU S I C J U ST H A S TH IS MU L TIFA C E TE D W A Y O F BU ILDING A P ER SO N .

– LY D I A PA R K ,

FIRST FEMALE CONDUCTOR OF CVYS

students enrolled in the program with an annual audience roll out of 25,000. In other words: huge.

One of the highlights of her time at MYSO was going on international tours with the orchestra.

“We wouldn’t be able to speak the language but would be able to bring a gift to another place,” Park said.

“That’s basically what you’re doing as a group: You’re giving a gift.”

It was experiences like these that brought Park to become so passionate about making music – especially in a group setting.

“All art is amazing,” she said.

“Everybody should be involved in (an) art. But, I think that music just

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has this multifaceted way of building a person. To have a community like this that has an amazing culture, music opportunities, kids who want it – why not?”

The switch from player to conductor has been a surreal one, but she is looking forward to this opportunity and has plans to grow the organization as a whole over the next several years.

While Park has these big-picture plans formulating in the background, she is also looking forward to her first season with CVYS. With 35 students ranging from 11 to 18 years old, Park is grateful to the dedicated kids who still want to

music after the past year-and-a-half we all have been through.

“They already have this thing that they have as a generation,” Park said, “that they made it through, and they can take that and put it into their music. Music just has this way of healing.”

That is not to say it will all be easy – Park expects some growing pains as they all settle into this new routine and establish themselves after a year of silence.

The group plans to rehearse every Tuesday for just shy of two hours at the Haas Fine Arts building on the UW-Eau Claire campus. Their first concert is slated for Dec. 14, when they will perform some holiday classics like Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker.” There will also be a spring concert sometime in May, but the music and date have yet to be set.

Community members are encouraged to attend and support the young artists and accept their gift of music made together.

Find the Chippewa Valley Youth Symphony at cvyouthsymphony.org.

BUILDING STRONGER COMMUNITIES

WHERE PEOPLE MATTER

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