Brenda Yang Reflects on Being a Dane County Board Supervisor: Wonderfully Overwhelming
Brenda Yang celebrates her election victory at Sheehan Park in South Madison with her colleagues and supporters.
Part 2 of 2
By Jonathan Gramling
When one meets Brenda Yang, the first Hmong American to serve on the Dane County Board, one can easily get caught up in her ebullience. And these qualities have served her well as she has worked on the grassroots side of the community. She hadn’t thought of running for public office because of the impact that she was having on people’s everyday lives.
In spite of the challenges and whatever societal barriers that she had to overcome, Brenda Yang ran for the District 19 County Board Supervisor position and won with approximately 98 percent of the vote. She was unopposed. It’s a brave new world for Yang, one that she is wonderfully overwhelmed in.
“It still feels unreal to attend meetings and to have my voice matter and to make decisions and write policies and resolutions that affect the county,” Yang said. “I don’t take that lightly at all. I do a lot of research to make myself more informed of what is going on so that I can make the best decision for everyone, especially for those who are the most vulnerable in our population. We have to have those voices that aren’t being heard. It’s a huge responsibility. I’m already getting a lot of calls from my constituents and people in the community who are going through a lot of issues. And they feel that their voices are not being heard. A lot of my time
is spent hearing their needs and advocating for them and making sure that we are doing all that we can to help them and provide the services that they need. Most of the people who do contact me are our most vulnerable.”
Yang estimates that she puts in about 5-10 hours per week. That can be spent dealing with constituent calls, attending board meetings — she is one of 37 and is thrilled that they all get time to speak — researching issues and doing committee work. She landed on the Health and Human Needs Committee, which is right up her alley.
“It actually fits very well with my background in working in education, public schools and working with students and families,” Yang said. “That has given me a lot of information on health and human needs, especially with mental health in terms of our students and families right now. Since the pandemic, it has been an incredibly hard year in public schools. With the percent of the teachers who are quitting, it shows how undervalued teachers are and how undervalued mental health is and the aspect of social-emotional learning. Mental health is really important.”
She is also on the UW Extension Committee.
“I was voted as the chair,” Yang said. “It was interesting because I’ve never been the chair for anything. Kate McGinnity who was supposed to be the chair decided that she wanted to highlight BIPOC voices and especially women’s voices. So she called me and asked if I would like to be the chair and she would be the co-chair. We eventually voted and I ended up being the chair. That was very kind and also very inclusive of her to be thinking ahead and opening the doors to give access to BIPOC women. I am very thankful to Kate for that. It’s been interesting learning the ropes of that in terms of how to chair a committee. And so I have to read all the resolutions and connect with the department heads and the directors.”
On some level, Yang feels a little pressure being the first Hmong on the Dane County Board, although one would no guess that by her demeanor. Nonetheless, she is setting the pace for other Hmong Americans who come after her.
“It’s funny in a sarcastic kind of way,” Yang said about being the first Hmong American. “The Hmong community has been in Dane County a long time. It’s finally true that someone who is Hmong can be on the county board or has that representation. It has taken a while for us to get there. And I know it’s going to take us a lot more time and understanding for communities to understand us better. But being the first Hmong elected, being the pioneer of that, I do feel a lot of the weight on me for sure. I feel like I am more scrutinized. Did I do something wrong because I am the first? I do carry that burden with me and I do think about that a lot. But it is a pleasure and a delight to be able to serve people. I love to meet people and hear about their stories and who they are and how they came to Dane County and their cultural identity and what makes them who they are. That is a huge part of what I love about being on the county board, meeting people who are different than me, hearing their stories, advocating for them and giving them a voice and allowing people to not just survive, but to thrive. I hope to continue to do that.”
Brenda Yang is enjoying the moment of being in a place where she can help marginalized people move forward while also helping Dane County become a better place for all of its citizens. One can’t help but feel that Brenda Yang is just getting started.
