Community activism Before her election, Chang worked for about a decade as a community organizer in Detroit. She also co-founded and is a board member for Rising Voices of Asian American Families. She is a board member of the Southwest Detroit Community Justice Center.
Politics Chang became the State Representative for Michigan's House District 6 in January 2015. In her first term, she served on the Committees on Criminal Justice, Education, and Judiciary. In her second term, she served on the Committees on Education Reform, Law and Justice (where she serves as Minority Vice Chair), and Natural Resources. Much of her legislative work is focused on air quality, affordable and safe drinking water, education and criminal justice reforms. She was the chair of the Progressive Women's Caucus, a founding member of the Asian Pacific American Legislative Caucus, and a member of the Detroit Caucus, Michigan Democratic Latino Legislative Caucus and Michigan Legislative Black Caucus. She also served on the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Local Government Advisory Committee, which provides advice and recommendations to the EPA administrator to help develop strong partnerships with local governments to deliver environmental services and programs. Chang also focuses much of her work with residents in the district with the Mary Turner Center for Advocacy, the Neighborhood Service Center, ranging from saving homes from tax foreclosure to hosting a community baby shower for low-income pregnant women. In 2016 she launched the Girls Making Change fellowship, a leadership program for high school girls of color in District 6. Chang faced
Bettie Cook Scott in a Democratic Party primary for
Michigan Senate District 1 on August 7, 2018, winning 49% to Cook Scott's 11%. During the election, Cook Scott made racially charged comments about Chang, referring to her as "ching-chang" and "the
ching-chong", but later issued an apology through a representative. Chang currently serves as State Senator for District 3 and as the Minority Floor Leader in the State Senate. She is the Minority Vice Chair for the Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety and for the Committee on Finance. She has passed legislation related to female genital mutilation, criminal justice reform,
nitrous oxide "
Whippets," business improvement zones, domestic violence, and reentry services for previously incarcerated but exonerated people. == Personal life ==