Since its inception in 1998, CHAT has transformed into a social justice arts organization that engages with local and national Hmong communities.
In addition to providing diverse arts-based programs, CHAT uses innovative strategies to address social issues affecting Hmong Americans.
[1] In 1998, PSHT members decided to expand the group's focus beyond theater arts in order to serve more Hmong artists.
In the fall, CHAT's youth program extended its reach by taking arts instruction into St. Paul's federal housing projects.
It produced multiple videos and music compilations in the mid-2000s, including Hmongtopia: All About ABC's (2006) and The H Project (2005), a recording that raised awareness of the Hmong genocide in Laos.
In 2007 alone, DDNT produced the collectively created Hmong-land; staged May Lee Yang's Sia(b); and toured Stir-Fried Pop Culture to schools and colleges.
The intense, year-long program used art as a vehicle to foster leadership skills and heighten students' expectations for success after high school.
Youth met weekly to discuss critical issues affecting the Hmong community, plan arts campaigns, and present them to the public.