African Variety Show: Trusted Community Voices Outreach Team and Vermont Professional of Color Network

Description

Trusted Community Voices Outreach Team:

Started in April 2020 in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trusted Community Voices (TCV) initiative seeked to enhance community engagement efforts and create open dialogue for Burlington residents, with a focus on immigrant and refugee communities.

Vermont Professionals of Color Network:

Our goal is to build a community and network that promotes, supports, and affirms People of Color in a way that helps them succeed personally and professionally.

Our network is built from within (“for us, by us”) and focuses on young people of color, professionals of color, businesses and entrepreneurs of color, because prosperity starts with opportunities to climb the economic ladder, and a prosperous BIPOC community is a good thing for ALL of Vermont.

About guest Phet Keomanyvanh:

Born in Laos, during the height of the Vietnam War, Phet Keomanyvanh parents’ fled with her and her younger sister to Thailand where they lived in the Refugee Camps for 3 years until being sponsored and resettled in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.

Phet grew up in the Northeast Kingdom and graduated from St. Johnsbury Academy. She went on to obtain her B.A. in Anthropology at The University of North Carolina-Greensboro and then her M.A. in Public Administration at The University of Vermont.

Phet has over 20 years of experience in non-profit community based organizations and currently sits on the United Way of Northwest Vermont Board of Directors. She works for the City of Burlington as one of CEDO’s Community Engagement Managers and is responsible for connecting with constituency groups to promote engagement, economic development opportunities and further advance the City’s diversity and equity goals.

When not working, Phet enjoys spending her time with family, friends, hiking, foraging with her dog Moo, and practicing yoga.

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