Leadership Team

Ms. Danijela Duvnjak

Mrs. Danijela Duvnjak, known affectionately throughout the HCPA community as “Mrs. D,” brings over 24 years of experience in K–12 education. Before joining HCPA, she taught in large, traditional school districts. She began her career at HCPA in 2004 as an English teacher and later served as a Teacher on Special Assignment and Director of Teaching and Learning. She now serves as HCPA’s Chief Academic Officer.

As a young adult, Mrs. D arrived in the United States as a refugee, which gives her a deep connection to HCPA families and their desire for a school that reflects their cultural and linguistic experiences. She has watched HCPA grow from 200 students to nearly 2,500 and takes great pride in seeing generations of students find a place to learn, belong, and thrive. Mrs. D firmly believes that every student can achieve and that educators must never give up on a child.

During her time at HCPA, the school has earned national recognition from the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching and U.S. News & World Report for high academic growth. Mrs. D has also helped secure multiple grants that support instructional programs, curriculum development, and student services.

She earned her undergraduate degree in English Language Arts Education from Hamline University and her master’s degree from Concordia University. She holds principal and superintendent licenses from St. Cloud State University, as well as a charter school leadership certificate. Outside of school, Mrs. D enjoys reading and spending time with her husband and two sons.

Mr. David Kloskin

David has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Hmong College Prep Academy since December 2021. 

David has been an active Certified Public Accountant (CPA) since 2010 and has been in the accounting profession since 2008. David has several years in public accounting as well as many years of upper-level managerial accounting roles for nonprofits, including financial management of Minnesota charter schools. 

David received their Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls (UWRF) double-majoring in Accounting and Finance. 

David had served as a Board Treasurer of a Charter School in Minneapolis for 5 years, and remains an active member of the Minnesota Board of Accountancy and Minnesota Society of CPAs (MNCPA).

David’s top CliftonStrength is Strategic.

His hobbies include chess, rock climbing, fly fishing, and spending time with friends and family.

Ms. Chong Her

Chong Her is the Director of Human Resources and has been a dedicated member of the team since 2015. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management and brings a thoughtful, people-centered leadership style to her work. 

Born in Thailand to parents whose refugee journey was marked by hardship, Chong was raised in a family rooted in resilience, sacrifice, and determination. In 1988, her family relocated to Wisconsin and later settled in Minnesota in 2000. She credits her parents’ strength, perseverance, and commitment to opportunity as the foundation of her success and her lifelong dedication to learning and community support.

Since joining HCPA, Chong has grown through a series of leadership roles, beginning as an Administrative Business Coordinator and advancing to Business/HR Generalist, Business Manager, and Senior HR/Business Manager. With the support and guidance of her peers, she has thrived in each role, exemplifying HCPA’s commitment to developing talent from within and demonstrating the organization’s opportunities for professional growth.

Chong’s StrengthsFinder results (Achiever, Responsibility, Learner, Discipline, and Includer) are reflected in her consistent work ethic, integrity, commitment to continuous improvement, structured leadership style, and inclusive approach to supporting staff and students.

Outside of work, Chong enjoys trying new foods, reading, gardening, and spending quality time with her husband, dog, and four children.
 

Mr. Chin Nou Khang

Chin Nou Khang is a dedicated educator who values educational equity, culturally responsive teaching, and student agency. Before his current role, he taught middle school and high school social studies through a social justice lens. He is from Saint Paul, Minnesota, and has both lived and professional experience to fulfill the content with his desired niche in secondary education. He obtained his master's in educational leadership through Concordia University, St. Paul, which gives him a broader, more strategic overview when determining what's best for school and curricular growth. Years spent in the classroom, facilitating curriculum efforts, and as an instructional coach give Khang a crucial, student-centered perspective to guide the vision of the whole school.

According to his StrengthsFinder results, Khang is a Deliberative, Competition, Relator, Activator, and Responsibility leader. As such, he is a theme-based person who is goal-oriented yet a team player who values careful deliberation and intention in planning to reach achievements. He builds trust through authentic relationships, effortlessly transitions the plan from thought to action, and can be relied upon to work effectively with purpose and consistency. Khang thrives independently and collaboratively with others, personally and professionally, with an extensive endeavor to ensure that all students deserve the opportunity to a well-rounded educational experience. 

When he's not advancing in his passions, Khang enjoys cooking, fishing, camping, and taking long road trips with his partner. These hobbies bring him joy, balance, and connection—three integral components needed in working with students and staff. 

Ms. Krista Skoglund Carlson

• 13+ years working and teaching in Minnesota charter schools
• Taught and coached both students and teachers in a variety of levels and subjects from kindergarten to 6^th grade
• Began at HCPA as a 2^nd grade teacher in 2013
• Served as a Mentor Teacher/Coach and Master Teacher/Coach as part of TAP (Teacher and Student Advancement Program) from 2014-2016
• Began as Interim Director of Teaching and Learning and Executive Master Coach for the 2016-2017 School Year
• Serves as K-5 Director of Teaching and Learning 2017 to present
• Studied at Hamline University and the University of Minnesota Twin-Cities as a student athlete

Mr. Jeremy Shedlosky

Jeremy Shedlosky comes from a family of educators – his father was a teacher and administrator for over 40 years, his mother was a school librarian and paraprofessional, and his sister is a middle school computer science teacher. 

Jeremy has been working in schools since 2004 as a classroom teacher and instructional leader.  He graduated from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln with a BA in History.  Then went on to earn his MA in Teaching from PACE University.  He has taught in New York City and Chicago.  He started as a kindergarten teacher in the South Bronx before going to teach at a high-performing charter network in Brooklyn.  In 2012, he got the opportunity to lead a public charter school’s turnaround efforts in Chicago, Illinois, where he was recognized by the mayor for outstanding student growth.

Jeremy is passionate about ensuring equitable educational outcomes for all students and loves the HCPA community.  When he is not at school you can find Jeremy spending time with his wife and two dogs cooking, gardening, reading, and playing games.

Ms. Cecelia Lee

Ms. Cecelia Lee (Cece) is the Director for Counseling and Student Services at HCPA. The Counseling Department consists of school counselors, school social workers, and our College and Career Manager. The department provides academic, personal/social,  and college/career support to all our students. 

Cece started her professional career with a non-profit organization that started up a charter school in St. Paul. She later went to higher education and worked with college students. After four years in higher education, Cece returned to the K-12 education system and joined the HCPA family in 2006. Cece has been with HCPA since then, and has seen the school grow from 400 students to about 2,500 students. 

Cece received her Bachelor of Arts from Gustavus Adolphus College in Sociology and Anthropology and her Master of Science in Education, Counseling from the University of Wisconsin, River Falls. She also has her  K-12 Counseling license from the MN Department of Education.  Cece enjoys working with students of all ages in the different areas of academics, personal/social, and college/career readiness. For Cece, the greatest joy is to be part of the students’ journey as they grow and graduate from HCPA and to see them become contributing citizens in our community. When she is not working with the students, Cece enjoys spending time with her family, specifically her three beautiful daughters.
 

Ms. Nou Her

Ms. Nou Her has been in K-12 education for over 14 years. She started her career at HCPA as a Special Education paraprofessional in 2008, after graduating with her Bachelor of Art’s degree in Psychology from Carleton College. During her initial years working as a paraprofessional, Ms. Her assisted with interpreting at Annual Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings which sparked her interest in pursuing a teaching career in the field of Special Education to assist students to reach their fullest potential, regardless of learning differences and to also assist parents with understanding the impact of their child’s learning differences. Ms. Her completed coursework at Concordia University and became a licensed Special Education teacher with specialization in the areas of Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) and Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (EBD) in 2013. Ms. Her has had classroom experience as a Special Education teacher at the elementary, middle and high school levels. In 2015, Ms. Her transitioned out of the classroom to Due Process Coordinator to support and ensure compliant specialized programming and services at HCPA. Ms. Her has also served as a mentor and master teacher to provide instructional coaching to general and special education teachers as part of HCPA’s formal teacher evaluation system and received training with the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP), now known as NIET (National Institute for Excellence in Teaching).

Ms. Her also served as a literacy coach at the middle/high school level at HCPA from 2018 to 2021. She participated in professional development provided by the MN Department of Education as a result of a grant opportunity with the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy (SRCL) Implementation Work Plan which provided the school with an opportunity to develop infrastructure to implement and sustain high quality, evidence-based literacy practices in core instruction. In addition, she has also received training in the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) to provide ongoing professional development and coaching to K-12 teachers at HCPA with skills needed to master the fundamentals of reading instruction—phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, writing, and language.

Currently, in her role as Senior Special Education Manager, Ms. Her oversees the K-12 Special Education department at HCPA, which includes curriculum and instruction, programming and due process compliance. She is passionate about her continued work to assist special education teachers and staff with providing compliant special education services as well as coaching around the implementation and use of evidence-based practices to create equitable outcomes for all students.

In her time outside of the school, Ms. Her enjoys spending quality time at the MN Twins games and traveling with her husband, two daughters (an additional daughter expected in late August/early September 2022) and son. 

Dr. Dao Lor

Dr. Dao Lor brings over 20 years of experience in K-12 education. He began his career at Hmong College Prep Academy (HCPA) in 2006 as a special education paraprofessional and building substitute teacher. Since then, he has served in a wide range of roles across both charter and traditional districts, including teacher, department head, mentor teacher, executive master teacher, assistant director of teaching and learning/assistant principal, director of operations and community relations, principal, and executive director/superintendent.

As a Hmong refugee, Dr. Lor’s story deeply resonates with the students and families at HCPA. His lived experiences give him a firsthand understanding of the challenges many immigrant and refugee families face both at home and in school. Throughout his career, he has supported numerous schools with expansion initiatives, family and community engagement, student recruitment, curriculum alignment and program development, fund balance growth, authorizer transitions, board development, and a wide range of school improvement efforts.

He currently serves as the Director of Family Engagement at HCPA. In addition, Dr. Lor is a Professor of Educational Practice at Concordia University, Saint Paul, where he teaches, evaluates, and mentors student teachers completing their K-12 licensure at both the bachelor’s and master’s levels, as well as students completing their doctorates in Educational Leadership. He is also a Xib Fwb, teaching Hmong cultural practices and traditions.

Dr. Lor holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Educational Leadership, and K-12 ESL Instruction; a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership; an Educational Specialist degree in K-12 Administration; and a Doctoral degree in Educational Leadership.

Outside of his professional roles, he volunteers extensively in the community through public engagement, educational development, and social service projects. He also serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, daughter, and son.

Mr. Tony Hang

Tony Hang has been a part of the HCPA community since 2016. He currently serves as the Director of Operations, supporting the day-to-day functions of the school while also overseeing marketing, communications, and special projects. With more than 20 years of experience in customer service and public relations, Tony brings a thoughtful, solutions-focused approach to his work.

In his role, Tony helps coordinate operations across departments, manages transportation logistics, and leads creative and technical initiatives. His background in video production, photography, graphic design, and live audio engineering allows him to strengthen school communication and highlight the stories that make HCPA unique.

Outside of HCPA, Tony serves as the Senior Pastor of Hmong United Church Assemblies of God and has over a decade of business and entrepreneurial experience. He is a lifelong learner with a passion for leadership, creativity, and community building.

When he’s not working, Tony enjoys music and performance as a guitarist, bassist, and vocalist, along with producing podcasts and YouTube content. He also has a wide range of interests, including professional pigeon racing, event coordination, and auto mechanics. Bilingual in Hmong and English, Tony values connecting with people across cultures and creating spaces where everyone feels supported.