She is the executive director of The SEAD Project (Southeast Asian Diaspora Development), an organization based in Minnesota and Laos aimed at empowering Southeast Asian diaspora communities by bridging the access gap to community, storytelling, languages, heritages and cross-cultural connections and knowledge-sharing through creative workshops and communication tools.
She has worked in the nonprofit field on organizing, public affairs, community development, and human rights advocacy.
In 2010, Chanida Phaengdara Potter was a chair of the first National Lao American Writers Summit in Minneapolis with Saymoukda Vongsay, Catzie Vilayphonh, and Bryan Thao Worra.
In 2015, Chanida Phaengdara Potter organized and curated the "Refuge of the InvisibLao" interdisciplinary exhibit that was presented in Minneapolis and in Brooklyn Park.
It was funded in part by crowdfunding efforts as well as a grant awarded by the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council of Minnesota.