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2025 Community Ambassadors

Jai Chang, Hmong Youth and Parents United

2025 Community Ambassadors

Jai Chang, Hmong Youth and Parents United

Jai was born in Merced, CA and moved to South Sacramento when he was four years old. South Sacramento has been his home for over 23 years and he hopes to build a deeper connection within his community. He comes from a family of refugees and grew up in a multi-generational household with seven siblings, so there was never a dull moment—from his parents juggling seven different doctor's appointments and his grandparents working on their garden and raising livestock to his siblings running around the block barefooted until the streetlights came on. He feels fortunate that his family didn't move much once they got to South Sacramento. He attended Woodbine Elementary, Rosa Parks Middle School, & Luther Burbank High School.

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Growing up, he didn't think much about it, but upon reflection as an adult, he realized that he attended some of the lowest funded and poorly ranked schools based on test scores and resources. Initially, he felt embarrassed that his high school didn’t have a Driver's Ed program, agriculture classes, or all the extracurriculars that other schools had. However, he came to accept and appreciate the experience that he did have. He now appreciates the opportunity to have attended these schools because of the resilience of his peers and educators, who did so much with such little resources. In fact, Luther Burbank was named one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse schools in the entire Sacramento City Unified School District, with 26 different spoken languages during his time in high school.

He attended Sacramento State University and received his degree in Recreation, Parks, & Tourism Administration with a concentration in Hospitality & Tourism. He graduated during the pandemic of 2021 so landing a job within his field or any other field was a struggle given his limited professional work experience. He was lucky to come across a job posting from Hmong Youth and Parents United via social media and landed the position. This is where he feels he belongs—in community-based organizations that serve their community members and bridge the gap. With all the challenges and disparities growing up, this has allowed his to focus on community togetherness and is a huge advocate of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion.

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