Not long ago, Bor Yang, the new executive director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission, contemplated leaving the state. At the time, Yang was an administrative law examiner at the state agency, which investigates allegations of discrimination in housing, state government employment and public accommodations. Part of her job was giving "implicit bias training" to state employees, housing providers, legal providers and social service agencies. After one such session, a law clerk told Yang she had overheard two individuals having a private conversation during which they muttered, referring to the trainer, "Well, maybe she should go back to her country.""I have not heard that since I was a little kid," said Yang, 41, as she recounted the incident in her work quarters on Baldwin Street in Montpelier. Born in Laos, Yang and her family moved to the U.S. when she was 3. "It really did make me sad, and also it made me want to leave Vermont," she said. Since she started working at the commission in 2015, Yang said, she has heard from other members of minority groups who planned to leave the state because of the discrimination they experienced, feeling that "sticking around to fight this fight seems really impossible." But Yang herself has a reason to stick around — the chance to make a change in her new community. In November, the ethnic Hmong woman became the first person of color to head the Vermont Human Rights Commission since the state agency was formed in 1988. When Karen Richards, Yang's predecessor, was appointed in 2013, she brought team-building skills, budgeting experience and solid legal skills, said Donald Vickers, who has been a commission member since 2008 and was on both selection committees. Richards also hired quality staff and built new partnerships, he noted. "We were looking for the same skills in Bor," said Vickers, "plus the ability to take the commission to the next level by building a strong information and training component.""It was Bor's passion and her vision for the Vermont Human Rights Commission that, to me at least, pulled her ahead of the field," said Mary Brodsky, who was appointed to the commission in 2010. "My goal and vision for this agency is doing more proactive work and not just always reacting to discrimination," Yang said. Many Vermonters still don't know about the agency and its work, she noted. What the commission…
Not long ago, Bor Yang, the new executive director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission, contemplated leaving the state. At the time, Yang was an administrative law examiner at the state agency, which investigates allegations of discrimination in housing, state government employment and public accommodations. Part of her job was giving "implicit bias training" to state employees, housing providers, legal providers and social service agencies. After one such session, a law clerk told Yang she had overheard two individuals having a private conversation during which they muttered, referring to the trainer, "Well, maybe she should go back to her country.""I have not heard that since I was a little kid," said Yang, 41, as she recounted the incident in her work quarters on Baldwin Street in Montpelier. Born in Laos, Yang and her family moved to the U.S. when she was 3. "It really did make me sad, and also it made me want to leave Vermont," she said. Since she started working at the commission in 2015, Yang said, she has heard from other members of minority groups who planned to leave the state because of the discrimination they experienced, feeling that "sticking around to fight this fight seems really impossible." But Yang herself has a reason to stick around — the chance to make a change in her new community. In November, the ethnic Hmong woman became the first person of color to head the Vermont Human Rights Commission since the state agency was formed in 1988. When Karen Richards, Yang's predecessor, was appointed in 2013, she brought team-building skills, budgeting experience and solid legal skills, said Donald Vickers, who has been a commission member since 2008 and was on both selection committees. Richards also hired quality staff and built new partnerships, he noted. "We were looking for the same skills in Bor," said Vickers, "plus the ability to take the commission to the next level by building a strong information and training component.""It was Bor's passion and her vision for the Vermont Human Rights Commission that, to me at least, pulled her ahead of the field," said Mary Brodsky, who was appointed to the commission in 2010. "My goal and vision for this agency is doing more proactive work and not just always reacting to discrimination," Yang said. Many Vermonters still don't know about the agency and its work, she noted. What the commission…