Xiongpao Lee is a prominent writer-poet, visual and performance artist, and activist in the Hmong community of Minnesota. He is also the Upward Bound coordinator at University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Xiongpao graduated from the University of South Carolina Spartanburg (USCS, on June 30, 2004, USCS changed its name to the University of South Carolina Upstate). In 2001 when the Art 303 Illustration class at USCS took on a class project of illustrating The African Interior Mission, Xiongpao emerged as the illustrator of record for the book.

Due to Xiongpao Lee's fabulous talent and hard work, he has vividly brought to life the unique characters of C. William Allen’s fine novel.