Sokunthea Leng Bentley Selected for Census Bureau’s Asian Advisory Committee

Sokunthea “Sue” Leng Bentley, associate director of the Centre for Asians and Pacific Islanders, has been selected by Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez to serve on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Advisory Committee on the Asian population.

As a member of the nine-person committee, the Eagan, Minn., resident will advise the Census Bureau on the new American Community Survey and ways to achieve a more accurate count of the Asian Population in the 2010 Census.

Bentley arrived in the United States at age 7 as a refugee from Cambodia. She obtained a bachelor’s in business administration from Hamline University (Minn.) and as a senior in college, started her own business — a language translation and interpreting service. The business is now in its 11th year. As a former Census 2000 partnership specialist she understands the unique needs of the Asian population, particularly from a language perspective.

Five race and ethnic advisory committees — African-American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander — advise the Census Bureau on issues affecting minority populations. The committees are assembled from the public at large and representatives of national, state, local and tribal entities, as well as nonprofit and private sector organizations. Members of the committees are academicians, community leaders, policy makers and others interested in an accurate count for their communities.