About Kabzuag

Kabzuag Vaj was born in Laos and come to this country as a refugee child with her mother and siblings. She is founder and co-executive director of Freedom Inc. She has dedicated the majority of her life to ending gender-based violence. Her advocacy started when she was 16 years old, assisting and housing at-risk teens, and challenging abusive gender norms within her community. She is a strong believer that those who are most deeply impacted must be at the forefront of the movement. Those who are most impacted must have opportunities and resources to advocate for themselves and tell their own stories. In the past 20 years, Vaj has spent her life working to build collective power and social change within Southeast Asian and Black communities.

She is currently one of the Co-Executives at Freedom Inc. Freedom, Inc’s mission is to end violence within and against low-income communities of color by building the power of Black, Hmong, and Khmer, women, queer folks and youth. Kabzuag is also a co-owner/founder of Red Green Rivers, a social enterprise that works with Artisan makers, most of whom are women and girls, from the Mekong Region in Southeast Asia. Vaj is also a co-founder of Building Our Future, a global community campaign that works to change traditional practices, behaviors, and beliefs that contribute to gender-based violence within Hmong Families while building the leadership of women and girls.

Kabzuag is a daughter, mother, artist, and organizer. Her first love is the movement.

Freedom, Inc.

Freedom, Inc. engages low- to no-income communities of color in Dane County, WI. Our mission is to achieve social justice through coupling direct services with leadership development and community organizing.