The Theme of this 11th Annual Mother Daughter Conference is "Women Uplifting Women! "
"The birth of the AnnualMother Daughter Conference started 11 years ago when I was involved in a LA
County project regarding human trafficking. While I initially declined participation due to a heavy workload with KPA programs, I noticed a widening gap between traditional Khmer parents and their American-born children,especially daughters, which led to communication issues.
After consulting experts, afew professionals and I started the Khmer Mother-Daughter Inter-generational Leadership Training, working with 20 pairs of mothers and daughters over one year. We covered topics like socio-economic development, healthcare access, the educational achievement gap, and the juvenile system.
Following the training, these empowered mothers and daughters launched the Annual Mother-Daughter Conference to bring together families from different ethnicities and cultures, fostering a healthier, more prosperous community. This year marks the 11th anniversary of this unique and inspiring event. We were honored to feature four remarkable Mother–Daughter panelists who spoke with honesty, grace, and deep affection for one another. Their candid reflections and heartfelt exchanges resonated powerfully with the mothers and daughters who filled the room. We also received overwhelmingly positive feedback about the MC, Mr. Charles Song; Opening Remarks by Dr. Sara Pol-Lim; Special Remarks by Vice-President Steven Neal, Harbor Board Commissioner, Port of Long Beach; Special Remarks by Jeanette Christian, Supervisor Deputy, L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn; Special Remarks by Katonja Neal, Life Insurance and Annuity Specialist; Special Remarks by Sithary Ly, Mother panelist of 9th AMDC; Special Remarks by Maleka Long, Mother panelist of 4th AMDC; Keynote Address delivered by First Officer Mardi Ros Tan, First Female Khmer Pilot for United Airlines; Appreciation Message to all mothers and Grandmothers delivered by Sayon Syprasoeuth, Associate Director of UCC; Closing Remark impressively delivered by Dr. Sovathana Sokhom, Professor of Political Sciences in CSUDH; panelists, and charismatic moderator Dr. Linde Powers. In addition to the full in‑person audience, the program reached a wide and engaged community online.
We are proud to share that several daughters from the program have achieved great success, including graduating with doctoral degrees. Bravo!"
With Love and respect,
Chan Hopson, Co-Founder and Executive Director
Khmer Parents Association (KPA)
