This month’s mentor spotlight is Kalia Vang! Kalia is the mentor of Central High School junior, Tosin Opakunle. Kalia is from St. Paul and graduated from the College of St. Benedict last spring with a degree in political science. Keep reading to learn more about our awesome mentor, Kalia!

While in college, Kalia was involved in a few student organizations on-campus. When asked why she decided to attend St. Ben’s, she shared that as a senior in high school, she wasn’t sure where she wanted to go to college. She knew that she wanted to continue her education and further her studies. In the end, she chose St. Ben’s because her financial aid package was far better compared to the other colleges she had applied to.

Kalia currently works for the Metropolitan Council as a Program Technical Specialist. In this position, she assists the Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity by maintaining a two million department budget and tracking financial transactions. In addition, she also manages the Metropolitan Council’s federal program, Disadvantaged Business  Enterprise. 

When I asked why she chose to mentor for Upward Bound, Kalia shared that growing up she had many wonderful and motivational mentors who made a huge impact in her life and her goal is to do the same for others. “My philosophy is to turn back around and help those who are in the same position that I was once in.”

In her free time, Kalia likes to read, walk around the lake, and eat, because she loves food. Her future goal is to continue helping others and further her career as a civil servant. Her advice to UB students is to create a bucket list, take risks, explore, and embrace ambiguity. “By doing so, you would have done all that you wanted to do on your bucket list.”

Upward Bound would like to thank Kalia for taking the time to mentor for us and for being featured in this month’s Mentor Spotlight!