Mai Moua

Mai Moua specializes in leadership and organizational development, training, and research. She is Hmong-American and came to the United States in 1979 as a refugee from Thailand. Mai works with a variety of nonprofits, local and state governments, and private organizations. She has presented research and conducted workshops on leadership and organizational effectiveness, cultural competency and diversity, and strategic planning to internationally diverse audiences of leadership scholars and academics, executives and directors, practitioners, and students from the Middle East, Europe, and Canada.

When working with her clients, she integrates best-practice models that are culturally and organizationally appropriate in the design, development, and delivery of effective systems. Mai also takes a holistic approach that frames organizational and leadership issues within a systems framework. Her approach in organization development accounts for different ways of knowing and learning, and she strives to provide her clients with different perspectives of organizational and systems models.

As an academic-practitioner, Mai has conducted several original research and evaluations to deepen communities’ understanding and knowledge around social change and social issues. With expertise primarily on communities of color, immigrant and refugee populations, and disadvantaged communities, her research has highlighted the tension that exists between and among cultural groups and systems. Most of her research has been conducted with and for grassroots, community-based organizations and/or involved people who are silenced within a majority culture. All her research is based on sound research methodologies and she works to ensure that they have practical applications in her client’s work and a strong impact within their organizations and communities.

Mai holds a Doctorate in Leadership Studies from Gonzaga University and has a B.A in Sociology from Brandeis University.