As you may know, there are a number of new staff around the FIRM office. Last month, you met Laotian Advocate for the Building Healthy Communities coalition, Simara Vongthondy. This month, we would like you to meet FIRM Administrative Assistant and Project Assistant, Diamond Vang. We first met Diamond Vang during the Summerset Apartment crisis late last year. FIRM staff was so impressed with the way she was engaging with residents as a volunteer that she was asked if she was interested in coming on staff with the organization. She immediately said yes and started the very next day! Diamond lives at Summerset and is deeply rooted in the Hmong community in Fresno.
Diamond was born and raised right in Fresno and spent most of her life in Southwest Fresno. She is one of eight children in her family and her parents both still reside in Fresno where they came as refugees from Laos in the late 1970’s. Diamond graduated from Edison High School and has sought her college education over the last several years. She is happily married and is expecting her first child and what we call her first “FIRM Baby” in October! Diamond says, “I am so happy to be working at FIRM and to be able to give back to my own community here in Fresno. I was always taught to love my people by my parents and hope to inspire others in the Hmong community to do the same.”
Diamond assists the FIRM staff with administrative duties, runs the reception area, does special projects for the Executive Director and coordinates volunteers (amongst many other duties). She is also currently the Project Assistant for Project I Can and the California Earned Income Tax Credit outreach and education grant. We look forward to seeing all that Diamond will bring to FIRM and to the community as a whole!