Who We Are

Ever since working in the refugee camps in the war-torn former Yugoslavia in the 90s, Tea made a commitment to serve those whose lives had been unjustly disrupted by conflict. Years later, as she visited Srebrenica as part of her postgraduate studies at New York University and later University of Nova Gorica, Tea realized the profound impact of first-person digital story sharing. In 2013, she received a PhD in Cultural History, specializing in oral history recording, and has since committed her life to healing trauma, empowerment and amplifying the voices of immigrants and refugees. She is passionate about social justice, creating brave spaces, social entrepreneurship and immigrant leadership.

In 2013, Tea co-founded Green Card Voices, an organization that combats stereotypes by empowering immigrants to tell their stories. She and her team has recorded and shared stories of over 500 immigrants and refugees coming from 150 countries and living in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, New York, California and Georgia. She is the editor of eight books—all award-winning collections of first-person immigrant stories and 2015 Bush Fellow.

Tea is passionate about travel, running, hiking, kite flying, horses and growing vegetables. She is a mom to two amazing pre-teen daughters and two loving and [occasionally] naughty beagles. In the summer, she can be found hiking in the Slovenian Alps and swimming off of the Croatian coast with dozens of members of her immediate and extended family.

tea@greencardvoices.org