Tea Rozman
She/Her/Hers
Tea Rozman
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.
Aaliyah Hannah
She/Her/Hers
Aaliyah Hannah
Ruby Hogen-Chin
She/Her/Hers
Ruby Hogen-Chin
Ruby’s interest in social causes started at a young age. After receiving her Masters Degree from the University of California at Berkeley in Structural Engineering, she joined the Peace Corps as a teacher in Tanzania. During her time in Africa, Ruby learned the impact a supportive and welcoming community can have on an individual’s well-being and happiness.
Ruby joined the team in 2021 and hopes to use her skills and professional experience in teaching and education publishing and technology to spread the first-person stories of Green Card Voices.
Ruby is passionate about travel, food, home design, and the outdoors. She is blessed with a wonderful and supportive family who reminds her not to take herself too seriously.
Julie Vang
She/They
Julie Vang
Shiney Her
She/Her/Hers
Shiney Her
In 2018, Shiney graduated from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities with a major in Strategic Communications and Graphic Design. Soon after, she started her two years of service with AmeriCorps Public Allies – Twin Cities, where she developed an interest and drive working with nonprofits to give back to her community—using her assets in visual communication.
Shiney continues to partner and contract with nonprofits and small businesses. In the near future, she hopes to do work that’s deeply rooted in her culture and identity as a Hmong American woman.
A fun fact about Shiney is that she got her first name from the translation of her Hmong name—Chi-Ia [chee-ia]. It translates to “shiny”—hence, the birth of her name, which spells “Shiney”.
When she’s not creating, Shiney spends time caring and playing with Ginger, her Australian Shepherd mixed Border Collie fur friend. She also enjoys watching kdramas and listening to kdrama OSTs.
Zaynab Abdi
She/Her/Hers
Zaynab Abdi
She graduated as magna cum laude from St. Catherine University, St. Paul with three Bachelors’s degrees in Political Science,
Zaynab is a co-author in Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from Minneapolis High Schools and was featured in Malala’s new book We Are Displaced. Besides her advocacy life, Zaynab loves to play soccer and bike during her free time.
Rebecca David
She/Her/Hers
Rebecca David
Aasma Shaukat
She/Her/Hers
Aasma Shaukat
Coming to the United States in her twenties presented an exciting new chapter in her life. Her first home in the US was in Baltimore as she completed work at Johns Hopkins studying public health. She then pursued the study of internal medicine in New York and of gastroenterology in Atlanta. Eventually she found her way to the University of Minnesota and her current role as researcher and professor. She enjoys her work now because it combines three professional interests: working in a clinic, researching, and educating.
She finds passion and excitement behind each of these roles and is thankful for the opportunity to live the life she leads now. Though Aasma never intended to stay in the US after completing her postgraduate studies, she loves the life she and her family have built in Minnesota. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and three children, cooking new dishes, and exploring Minnesotan sports.
Vanja Pantic Oflazoglu
She/Her/Hers
Richard Benton
He/Him/His
Monique Thompkins
She/Her/Hers
Thorunn Bjarnadottir
She/Her/Hers
Merle Greene
She/Her/Hers
Merle Greene
International Institute of Minnesota to prepare refugees and immigrants for higher education and provide them with equal access to American colleges and universities. She also has run a refugee mentoring program for women and a summer program for immigrant teens, published an intercultural newsletter, done intercultural communication training for non-profits and professional organizations, and worked as a freelance writer. She has a master’s degree in French and a Dip TESAL in English language teaching. She helps to manage a local community garden and is looking for the best ways for her to support communities of color and to broaden the way her immediate community thinks about race.
Andrew Gordon
He/Him/His
Andrew Gordon
As a result, Mr. Gordon has dedicated his legal career to advocating for, and empowering, communities of color, immigrant communities and other marginalized communities. He understands that there is nothing that separates him from the plight of his clients and their families. In 2016, he was awarded a Social Justice Award by the Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild for his work representing individuals charged with protest related crimes following the murder of Jamar Clark. In 2020, Mr. Gordon was part of a team awarded with the “Law for the People Award” for his work supporting community advocates following the murder of George Floyd. He continues to be honored to work with advocates here in Minnesota and nationwide on issues related to justice reform, abolition and decarceration.
When he was asked to join the Board of Green Card Voices (‘GCV’), Mr. Gordon had to say yes. He had been lucky enough to work with the organization in its first round of oral stories, and felt a sense of belonging amongst the GCV team, the community it sought to empower, and his colleagues on the Board. Mr. Gordon serves on the Development and Gala Committees and is also one of the Board participants in RaiseMN’s Campaign Institute alongside GCV’s Executive Director, Tea Rozman. He will continue to work alongside all the GCV staff to continue building safe spaces for immigrants to celebrate their struggles and accomplishments.
Laetitia Mizero Hellerud
She/Her/Hers
Laetitia M. Hellerud
Salah Khouri
He/Him/His
Salah Khouri
Gregory Eagan
He/Him/His
Gregory Egan
dictatorship.
Greg remains active in his community. He also serves on the board of the Ramsey County Bar Association. He volunteers in a first-generation Hispanic college readiness mentorship program through Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio (CLUES). Through Literacy Minnesota, he teaches English to adult immigrants in the neighborhood they share. He puts his legal skills to work representing places of
worship that provide housing and sanctuary to immigrants; he stands prepared to defend these institutions against federal criminal prosecution. He also represents low-income family law clients through South Metro Regional Legal Services (SMRLS). Greg and his wife, a Honduran immigrant, are raising two bilingual, bicultural sons in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood.