Today we’d like to introduce you to Han Pham.
Hi Han, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up on the poor side of St. Paul, Minnesota. My parents were refugees from Vietnam, and though they didn’t choose to come to America, they still hoped for the American Dream for their children. As the dutiful oldest child, I did everything the “right way” I did well in school, got a good job, got promotions at work, climbing the corporate ladder higher and higher. And though my parents were very proud of me, I still couldn’t shake a feeling of emptiness that these successes were hollow.
With a week left of my maternity leave for my second child, a surprise meeting popped up on my work calendar. Even though I still wasn’t supposed to be attending work meetings, I had a feeling that I shouldn’t miss this one. The meeting was an announcement that my department was being terminated and an option to take severance. Despite a successful career in legal services, I knew at that moment that I wanted to make a huge shift in my life and left corporate life behind with no plan for the future. And it was absolutely thrilling.
If you wanted to know what gave me the courage to take that step, part of it was knowing I had a severance package to give me a financial cushion. The other part of it was that motherhood redefined me. It really made me think hard about what was important to me, my family, and to the world. And I realized that I wanted to spend my time making a better world for myself and my kids.
And so I used the severance money to fund my philanthropic and volunteer efforts. What I found was that in contrast to working my corporate job, which felt draining, doing work as a volunteer felt fulfilling, even when the work was the same as what I was doing in my corporate job. It felt so good to be able to see a direct connection between my efforts and the people benefiting. At any given time, I’m working for 3-5 different causes. And my friends ask me when I find “me time.” The honest answer is that volunteering is my “me time” because the feeling that I get from it nourishes my soul.
Since figuring this out, I try to share my experiences with others to encourage them to fill in that hollowness in their souls through volunteering or other meaningful engagement. It led to me giving a TEDxAtlantaWomen talk this year about the importance of diverse people getting involved in politics. Several people, I’ve talked to have now joined on the boards of causes that I work closely with or found their own. I don’t think people realize what’s missing until you show them.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Finding a cause you want to work for can be overwhelming. There are so many organizations and so many needs that just surveying the landscape can make you feel a bit dejected. Too many problems, too much work to be done. After spending my own time sorting through what works and what doesn’t, I have some advice to share. -Start with your own story. You’ll be much more engaged if you have a personal connection to the cause. Figure out which parts of your identity have been neglected and see what’s out there to help.
– Stay local. It is so much easier to see the direct impact of your work when working with a local community.
– Go small. Smaller organizations need so much help in different ways. A dollar or an hour spent with these orgs will go so much further than with a bigger organization.
– Don’t be afraid to move on if it doesn’t feel right. Volunteering someplace you don’t like or doing work you don’t enjoy is the opposite of fulfilling. You’re less helpful to yourself and the organization if you aren’t bought in.
These are some of the causes that I’m currently working with that fit with my story:
– The Global Village Project is a school for refugee girls in Decatur. Their mission spoke to my heart since I’m a child of refugees and my mother never completed school beyond the 2nd grade. I am the school’s Board Chair and last year I wrote about why I serve on their blog.
– I’m on the board of The Lola, which is a womxn’s community and coworking space. I attended Wellesley College and know the power of women helping women, and so I am happy to help The Lola continue that tradition here.
– Her Term recruits and equips women to run for office, where I transitioned after 5 years of volunteering into a paid role as the Executive Director this year.
Feeling that Asians were invisible in my community, I organized the Decatur Lunar New Year Festival. It’s the only festival that brings together several Asian cultures into a single celebration. Recruiting volunteers of Asian descent to run the booths and highlighting Asian-owned businesses has brought more awareness of Asians and Asian issues. But the best part is that it has allowed us to realize that Decatur has a lot of Asians (we jokingly call ourselves DecAsians) and we’ve built a really big DecAsian family together.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m the Executive Director of Her Term, a Georgia 527 not-for-profit organization co-founded in 2017 to create a political landscape full of progressive women running for office and winning. The most substantial reason for the lack of women in politics is not that they can’t win, it’s because it’s harder for them to run. But, Her Term isn’t just about women in government – it’s about better government: equitable, representative and functional. Her Term is built on the premise that a government that truly reflects the diversity of its people results in better outcomes for everyone. Our motto states: When she wins, everyone does.
What makes us different is our data-driven approach to targeting flippable seats, recognizing potential leaders, and providing them with the resources to run for office – and win. Typically, PACs provide much-needed endorsements and financial backing, however, Her Term goes beyond advocacy to design a solution and plays an active role from identification to inauguration. We focus on recruiting qualified, progressive women who are already leading in their communities and/or have lived a life which is not currently represented. Along with recruitment, Her Term provides holistic support for each candidate, which can include individualized counseling and advising, as well as access to funding to help with their unique campaign and ultimately impact the common barriers that hold women from elected office.
One of our major innovations in this space this year was introducing access to free/low-cost therapy services to all the democratic women candidates on the ticket. We recruited volunteer therapists to provide confidential one-on-one support and weekly group sessions. No other political organization is doing this for candidates. One of our participants said this was the most consequential service for her entire campaign. We’re excited to expand this work in the following years.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success to me, now, means having enough. There’s a concept that I’ve heard with eating food that you should eat until you’re satisfied, not full. The moment you stop is when you’re no longer hungry, a neutral feeling versus feeling “stuffed”. Success means setting appropriate boundaries so that I can be happy in all the various facets of my life: work, philanthropy, family, and friends. Success is feeling the reward from working really hard and also having the opportunity to slow down when you need a break. I feel successful by doing work that makes me, my family, and friends proud.
Contact Info:
- Website: herterm.org
- Instagram: @her__term
- Facebook: @herterm
- Twitter: @her_term
- Youtube: @herterm
- Other: bit.ly/TEDxHan
Image Credits
Elizabeth Karp Photography
