Arizona

Patty started getting interested in refugee work when a family member suggested she do a refugee apartment setup. Knowing little about the whole process, she asked many questions and continued to ask questions as she found out how much there was to refugee resettlement. She continues to learn by doing a little bit of everything such as setting up more apartments, arranging food and groceries for newly arriving refugees and helping organize the process. Her favorite part is when refugees in nearby apartments stop by to see who is moving in and talking with volunteers who also want to learn more.

Patty lives in Arizona with her husband and youngest son. She enjoys reading, urban sketching, and travel.

Born in South Africa, Christy immigrated to the United States when she was 7 years old. The many years and international moves required to eventually reach permanent resident status spurred her interest in the varying experiences found in all types of migration, voluntary or involuntary. She spent two years working with the asylum seeking population in Phoenix, Arizona and joined TSOS after supporting their story gathering trip to Phoenix. Christy enjoys any opportunity to serve in her community, whether it’s collecting supplies for her kids teachers, taking her family on “trash walks” or collecting furniture for a new refugee family. She calls the beautiful desert of Phoenix home with her husband & 3 kids, but she dreams of Hawaiian beaches.

I was born in Logan, Utah. In addition to being one of 8 children and 2 Navajo children, who lived with us almost full time, my parents always provided a refuge in our home for refugees and foreign USU students while I was growing up. This provided me a very diverse childhood. I have always had a deep love for refugees, immigrants, and any individual in need, something I learned from my parents. Prior to joining the TSOS team, I co-founded and served for over 4 years as Executive Director of Operations at gathering Humanity Inc. which gave me the unique opportunity to work closely with the refugee community, asylum seekers, resettlement agencies, and other amazing humanitarian organizations in Arizona. I have always enjoyed any opportunity to serve in my community and I love to drag my family along with me. I have lived in Arizona for over 20 years with my husband, Chris, and my 4 boys. As a family we love to be active, we love sports, hiking, music, and traveling

Liz currently resides in the Phoenix area, Arizona, and has lived in many places. Even in her youth, she understood that education has the power to better lives and loves to learn. She holds a BA in International Relations, a BA and a MA in German/Holocaust Studies, as well as a Ph.D. in International Conflict Analysis. She is a passionate advocate for human rights, more specifically minority, refugee, women, and children’s rights, and has presented, researched, and published much on the topic of long-term (re-)integration.

She comes to TSOS with extensive professional experience in operations and policy planning at the U.N. level, in curriculum and course development in higher education, as well as for grassroots. As a refugee herself, Liz knows that trials are part of the journey and that life is precious. True to her roots, Liz is always ready for a good laugh, loves engaging young minds in meaningful discussions, spending time with her family, and embracing new cultures, people, and food.

Robin Peterson lives in Arizona with her husband and children. Her passion for storytelling stems from her deep love of history. While attending Brigham Young University where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in History, she had the opportunity to intern at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Professionally, storytelling plays a large role for Robin as she provides deep rooted family connections through her work as a professional genealogist, researching for shows such as Who Do You Think You Are.

The importance of telling and preserving individual stories led her to join Their Story Is Our Story in 2019 to serve as the Director of Archives. In November 2019 she accompanied several team members on her first story gathering trip to the Northwest. Robin also spends time volunteering with various refugee organizations in the Phoenix area.

In her free time, Robin enjoys hiking, trail running, paddleboarding and weightlifting.