Beloved APEN Richmond leader, Kaelinh Saechao or “Kae” lived and organized with fearlessness, warmth and humor until her passing on August 3, 2025 at 92 years old. At APEN, we want to honor her many years of leadership and how much she meant to so many in our Richmond community. Kae made friends with everyone, whether she was gambling at the casino, telling private jokes at the side of the APEN meetings or staying up all night cooking and talking during a Mien funeral ceremony.
Like many Mien refugees of the Secret War in Laos, Kae fled from her home in Luang Nume Taa Deic to a refugee camp in Thailand in 1975. She eventually came to the US, where she lived in Richmond, Alabama and Long Beach before returning to settle in the Richmond/San Pablo area in 1992. In Long Beach, her daughter enrolled her in English classes to help her get out and communicate.
At APEN, Kae was an active leader for about 2 decades. She was an early APEN Academy graduate and a member of the Leadership Steering Committee- a group of leaders from Oakland and Richmond (our only organizing projects at the time), who weighed in on organization wide decisions. She made friends across cultural backgrounds with the Khmu and Chinese APEN leaders.
Kae was a fierce leader. In 2015, she was a spokesperson for the campaign against bringing “Bomb Trains” filled with Bakken crude oil down the train tracks into Richmond’s Kinder Morgan facility. She said that she wanted to remove the train tracks herself. The same year, she spoke at the California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) Congreso in Sacramento and inspired the crowd with her commitment to environmental justice in Richmond.
She was one of the few women traditional healers in the Mien community and people would come to her for healing, wisdom and comfort. When not out socializing, she was often at home, tending to her garden. Even into her 90s, Kae stayed independent and active – she was still attending APEN meetings and going to the casino until her death.
She is survived by her 3 children and 8 grandchildren, but so many more people will miss Kae deeply. As a grandma, a friend, a trouble-maker, an advocate, a healer, her legacy will endure and inspire. Next time you are in a garden, take a minute to think of Kae and reflect on her warm heart, playful spirit and her fearless activism.
