Foung Hawj ( ; ; lo, ຝົງ ເຮີ; RPA: Foom Hawj;

Pahawh Pahawh Hmong (Romanized Popular Alphabet, RPA: Phaj hauj Hmoob , Pahawh: ; known also as ''Ntawv Pahawh, Ntawv Keeb, Ntawv Caub Fab, Ntawv Soob Lwj'') is an indigenous Semi-syllabary, semi-syllabic writing system, script, invented in 1959 by Sh ...

: ) is an American media producer and politician who is a member of the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are h ...

. A member of the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is the Minnesota affiliate of the U.S. Democratic Party. As of 2022, it controls four of Minnesota's eight U.S. House seats, both of its U.S. Senate seats, the Minnesota House of Repr ...

(DFL), he represents District 67, which includes the east side of

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

in Ramsey County.

Early life, education, and career

Foung was born in Laos. His father was a military diplomat overseeing air deliveries of humanitarian cargo in

Vientiane Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...

and

Long Tieng Long Tieng (also spelled Long Chieng, Long Cheng, or Long Chen) is a Laotian military base in Xaisomboun Province. During the Laotian Civil War, it served as a town and airbase operated by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States ...

. His mother, a country girl without education, learned to operate a pharmacy in Ban Xon City. Foung grew up during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and lived in refugee camps with his family before coming to the United States. In 1990, he received his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

in Media Arts and Computer Science from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

and earned his

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in Applied Science and Technology from New York's

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in the town of Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree ...

in 2001. Foung was a series producer for

Twin Cities Public Television Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. (abbreviated TPT, doing business as Twin Cities PBS) is a nonprofit organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that operates the Twin Cities' two PBS member television stations, KTCA-TV (channe ...

in the 1990s before starting his own multimedia business in 1996, Digital Motion LLC. He co-founded the

Hmong-American Hmong Americans ( RPA: ''Hmoob Mes Kas'', Pahawh Hmong: "") are Americans of Hmong ancestry. Many Hmong Americans immigrated to the United States as refugees in the late 1970s. Over half of the Hmong population from Laos left the country, or ...

DFL Caucus in 1992 and other community organizations including Center for the Hmong Arts and Talent, the Minnesota Hmong Chamber of Commerce and Gateway Food Initiative Co-op which launched the development of the Mississippi Market on East 7th Street.

Minnesota Senate

Foung was one of nine DFL candidates running for the Senate seat in 2010, losing in the primary to St. Paul police chief John Harrington. He ran again in 2012, supported by the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, w ...

and a broad coalition that included the Hmong-American community, but also Latino, Somali, and African American voters. He won the primary, and went on to win the general election on November 6, 2012. His legislative concerns include economic development, social and economic equity, education, housing, environment, and healthcare. Some of his first term accomplishments for District 67 include new business developments on 7th Street, the Science and Education Center for Metro State University, and job creation dollars to boost the local economy. He kicked off his re-election campaign on January 16, 2016 at the Carpenter Union in his district. Hawj was re-elected in both 2016 and 2020, and currently serves on the Jobs and Economic Growth Finance and Policy and Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy Committees. Hawj is also the ranking minority member on the Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Legacy Finance Committee.

Personal life

Foung is an outdoorsman and has worked as a videographer and scriptwriter, producing

Hmong Hmong may refer to: * Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand * Hmong cuisine * Hmong customs and culture ** Hmong music ** Hmong textile art * Hmong language, a continuum of closely related ton ...

environmental videos. He lives at the south end of

Lake Phalen Lake Phalen is an urban lake located in Saint Paul, Minnesota and in its suburb of Maplewood. It is one of the largest lakes in Saint Paul and is the centerpiece of the Phalen Regional Park System. The lake drains into the Mississippi River after ...

and is captain of a

dragon boat A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft originating from the Pearl River Delta region of China's southern Guangdong Province. These were made of teak, but in other parts of China, different kinds of wood are used. It is one of a family ...

team. He spells his last name Hawj in RPA so that English-speakers can better approximate its pronunciation.

References

External links

Senator Foung Hawj
''official Minnesota Senate website''
Senator Foung Hawj
''official campaign website''
Digital Motion LLCFoung Heu
at WorldCat {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawj, Foung Living people Politicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota American politicians of Hmong descent Asian-American people in Minnesota politics Democratic Party Minnesota state senators University of Kansas alumni Rochester Institute of Technology alumni 21st-century American politicians Candidates in the 2010 United States elections Laotian emigrants to the United States Hmong activists Multimedia Candidates in the 2012 United States elections Refugees in the United States Year of birth missing (living people) Television producers from Minnesota